Andrew McQualter says West Coast won’t shy away from doing the hard work required to keep making progress this off-season following a final round defeat to Hawthorn.

The Eagles struggled to adapt to wet conditions at Optus Stadium on Sunday night, as Hawthorn capitalised on their opportunities and controlled much of the contest.

McQualter said his side's inability to adjust to the conditions and handle Hawthorn's pressure proved costly in the 62-point loss.

"Tonight was pretty simple. We fundamentally didn't play a great game of footy," McQualter said.

"We didn't adjust to the conditions in the first half in particular. At halftime we had 30 more handballs than kicks, while Hawthorn had almost double the amount of kicks to handballs.

"We fumbled too much, didn't handle their pressure and probably got taught a football lesson in a lot of ways."

After showing encouraging signs before the bye, the Eagles endured a challenging second half of the campaign, but McQualter said valuable experience gained by the club's emerging talent would prove important in the years ahead.

"If you step back and look at our year, there had been some good progress made before the bye," McQualter said.

"We've got some players on our list now that we're really excited about and we've been able to get a great amount of footy and exposure into them this year, in lots of different games and positions, which is going to hold us in good stead for the future.

"But it's clear we've got a lot of work to do. We haven't shied away from that once."

McQualter said the focus now turns to the off-season, with players and staff challenged to continue driving improvement before the start of pre-season.

"We get to make choices for the next 14 weeks before we begin pre-season again about how much we want to get better and improve, and that's me as a coach, our coaching group, staff and players," McQualter said.

Despite finishing the year on an 11-game losing streak, McQualter expressed strong confidence in the character and work ethic of the playing group.

"I've got an enormous amount of belief in this group that they're up for the fight and willing to do the work," McQualter said.

"We're being driven by a young core of hardworking people and that's exactly what this group did last off-season.”

McQualter also praised the support of the West Coast faithful, with more than 43,000 fans turning out on a wet Sunday evening for the club's final game of the season.

"We've got the most loyal fans in the game," McQualter said.

"It was another amazing turnout and we're grateful for the support they've shown us all year."

Looking ahead, McQualter expects the Eagles to be active during the exchange period as they continue searching for ways to strengthen the list and accelerate their progress.

"We're desperate to get better," McQualter said.

"We'll do whatever it takes and work every angle we can to help our club and our list improve."