Eagles coach Adam Simpson praised the efforts produced by his senior players and emerging youngsters despite a heavy loss to GWS on Sunday.
West Coast were defeated by 65 points by the dominant Giants who have become a force to be reckoned with, and despite the significant margin, Simpson highlighted plenty of areas of the game he was pleased with.
In his post-game address, Simpson said he was pleased with the overall effort of his team and looked to pay less attention to the final score.
"I think sometimes looking at the score [at the end] of the game you can stay quite negative but, I think the effort was there," said Simpson.
"There's some stuff there that we're really chasing that we saw some improvement on last year, but we've still got a lot of work to do. We thought we defended better today, but we conceded 67 inside 50s. I was really proud of the last quarter."
Young Eagle Reuben Ginbey was among the few standouts for West Coast, with the 19-year-old finishing with 22 disposals and five tackles, working predominantly as an inside midfielder.
The youth of the Eagles was a talking point for Simpson, who praised the talent of his list. As has become a regular topic, Harley Reid was of course highlighted by his coach.
"I think we're the second youngest side for the round this week, which is no excuse for not winning. It sort of shows you where we're at. Some of these guys are playing their 10th to 15th game," Simpson said.
"I thought Harley started really well, turned it on for the crowd.
"Without putting too much pressure on him, what'd he have 15, 18 touches? He contributed like we thought he would. He'll just keep getting fitter, better, and more connected to our players. It's his first game here (at Optus) which is great and what is he 18? As long as you guys (the media) don't put him on the back page every day, we'll keep supporting him."
Last week's Round 1 loss to the Power led to much criticism being placed upon the senior leaders at the club. The Eagles were severely outplayed with Elliot Yeo and Jayden Hunt being the only players recording 20 or more disposals for their side.
Simpson said he was satisfied with the response some of his veteran players put forward against the Giants.
"I was just as pleased with [our leaders] who stood up all day whereas last week we perhaps needed our leaders to stand up a bit more," he added.
"I thought McGovern, Barrass, Duggan, all those guys, Kelly, Yeo. Darling had a tough day, he was on his own a fair bit but his effort was there."
One of the main issues for the Eagles against the Giants was their ruck and tall stocks. Young ruckman Harry Barnett played his second senior game for the club, being subbed off for Ryan Maric. Skipper Oscar Allen will remain on the sidelines for an extended period which calls upon all the talls at the club to fill his role.
"Harry Barnett's 19, so we've just got to give these guys some exposure. I thought he did his bit. He gave a couple of free kicks away but he would've learnt a lot today," Simpson said.
"Bailey (Williams) is probably someone we need forward at the moment. I think we probably fell down in our front half in the air. They've got a great backline, but we probably had one tall in the last half when Bailey went into the ruck.
"We've just got to keep working through that with availability and what's coming through at WAFL and keep moving forward."
Simpson is already looking towards next week's clash against the Bulldogs, hoping to bring the pressure against a quality opponent.
"We're working hard on it. I think it was good in patches today, the pressure, but perhaps we spend a bit too much collapsing in on that contest and they get us on the outside and we look quite vulnerable. We've got to find a balance for that," he said.
"We haven't been able to do it for four quarters. I thought the way we started and the way we finished was pretty good but we're still working on that. The Doggies looked pretty sharp, I watched them today, they're a pretty well-balanced team.
"We can't over-commit but we've got to bring enough heat to not get 67 inside 50s against."
The Eagles will be looking for their first win of the season in Round 3, taking on the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium this Sunday.
