West Coast coach Andrew McQualter says the Eagles are up for the challenge of testing themselves against the red-hot Gold Coast Suns in their season opener on Sunday.

The Eagles will fly to People First Stadium to take on the Suns who are coming off a 56-point triumph over Geelong in Opening Round.

West Coast is set to take a new-look line-up compared to the side that finished 2025 after adding 13 new players to the squad over the off-season.

“We are a different team, there’s no doubt about that, our list has changed a lot over a small period of time so there will be new players in our team which is incredibly exciting for us,” McQualter said.

“It’s a massive challenge (against the Suns). They played a great brand of football last week.

“I think they had the game on their terms for most of that game and it provides us with a great challenge.

“Last year in round two we went over to the Gabba and faced Brisbane so we understand the conditions this time of year in south-east Queensland and we’re looking forward to it.”

McQualter has tweaked the gamestyle this pre-season to build on his first campaign, which only returned one victory but saw strong efforts against the likes of top-four finishers Geelong, Adelaide, Collingwood and Brisbane.

“There are some tweaks we’ve adjusted throughout the pre-season this year and some different personnel playing in different spots, but we just want to be a team that can compete for four quarters,” he said.

“I think you saw at our best last year we competed for large periods – the aim is to do it for longer.”

The Eagles will welcome back two-time John Worsfold medallist Elliot Yeo after the veteran missed all of last season with knee and ankle issues.

Yeo is set to build into the campaign but his guidance and presence will benefit the likes of Harley Reid and Tom McCarthy in the engine room clearance battle, combined with stints in attack.  

“He’s fit to play and we’ll just manage his game-time accordingly to what we think is appropriate but I can’t wait to see ‘Yeoy’ out there,” McQualter said.

“I think it’s really exciting for our fans and our footy club that he’s going to be back out there playing footy.”

McQualter declared important defender Reuben Ginbey ‘good to go’ after a toe complaint and was confident Elijah Hewett wouldn’t be sidelined for too long by a quad complaint.  

Hewett has been ruled out of the Suns clash and is expected to be available in one-to-two weeks.

Co-captain Liam Duggan and Tim Kelly are available to play against the Suns, and Jack Graham took part in main training on Thursday in his bid to return from a hamstring niggle.