West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has urged fans to look beyond the scoreboard after the Eagles’ 19 point loss to Collingwood on Sunday, highlighting the continued growth of his young side despite another hard-fought defeat.
The Eagles showed encouraging signs throughout the contest, producing some slick attacking ball movement and registering their second highest score of the season finishing 15.8 (98) to 17.15 (117).
The Eagles' star midfielder, Harley Reid, was forced to play through a painful corked leg after a hit from Darcy Cameron in the first quarter that left the onballer hampered as he battled a tag from Ed Allan.
McQualter said Reid's ability to push through and influence the match with a team-high 30 disposals – including a career-high 23 handballs – was testament to his strength as a player.
"I thought he was so tough. He obviously got hindered pretty early, maybe even a couple of times, but his contest work was just amazing as the game went on," McQualter said.
"He probably lacked maybe a touch of power to be able to get out of the tackles today, or Collingwood tackled well.
"But his ability just to put himself in the spot over and over. We moved him forward in the last quarter and he looked pretty threatening at times as well, just couldn't quite finish it.
"But again, a huge step forward for the young man."
Ultimately, it was another honourable loss for the Eagles in a run of nine straight defeats, but they showed improvement with attacking handball chains and kicked their second highest score of the season.
McQualter said there was disappointment in the results but encouraged fans and critics to look deeper into the team's growth this season.
"It's a little bit hard to see a huge amount of light because we're not winning games. And believe me, I'm the worst at this," McQualter said.
"But if you just lift your eyes a little bit, there's a fair bit to like about this team, what they're doing, the young players in the team and the growth.
"If you're a West Coast Eagles fan, you should be gutted we're not winning because that's what we're trying to do.
"But hopefully you can just lift your eyes a little bit and see the way these guys are playing and the young players in particular. There's going to be some really exciting times ahead for us."
McQualter described Daicos as "extraordinary" after his performance and said the midfielder was clearly the best player on the ground and in the competition.
The coach backed tagger Brady Hough, however, and pondered how much damage Daicos might have done if the Eagles hadn't attempted to lock down on him from the start.
"I don't think there's anyone close to him at the moment. He was the best player on the ground today. He was amazing. But I actually thought 'Houghy' did a reasonable job," McQualter said.
"He didn't play full game time on him. There were periods of the game where ‘Houghy’ was off, and Nick got off the chain a little bit.
"He actually kept him to 67 per cent disposal efficiency, which is a little bit lower for Nick. If you don't tag him, it's probably at 100. But he was too good today and a large part of why they won."
