West Coast mid-season draftee Tom McCarthy was excellent in his first game as a full-time midfielder at AFL level on Sunday afternoon against Adelaide.
The 25-year-old finished with a game-high 29 disposals and team-high 627 metres gained as a key orchestrator of the Eagles' nearly pulling off the upset of the season against the top-of-the-table Crows.
He revealed on Tuesday that it was a coaching-led move after he showed glimpses of his potential to win clearances the previous week against Melbourne, late in the game.
“I love it,” McCarthy said of playing in the midfield.
“I played a fair bit there in the VFL, so (I'm) not a stranger to it, but playing AFL in the midfield feels a lot different.
“I feel like I wasn't ready for it at the start, but ready for it now and ready to move forward with it.”
McCarthy's speed and endurance suit the role of being a quality transition midfielder, and he said he's hoping to complement that with increased strength in 2026.
“It's a massive jump and…I need to get a bit stronger,” McCarthy said.
“When you body up the AFL mids, it's a bit different, you have to go about your craft a bit differently, but it's a great challenge.
“I'll go into preseason, put on a bit more weight, and hopefully be able to throw a bit more around next year.”
The Eagles' pressure overwhelmed the Crows until the visitors' class gave them the upper hand in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Despite not emerging with the four points, it was a positive send-off for premiership stars Dom Sheed and Jeremy McGovern, with McCarthy revealing they were a great source of inspiration for the side.
“We knew we were down on the defence in the last two weeks (and it was) probably not up to standard," McCarthy said.
“Myself and the team took that as a challenge and made sure this week was the week we really went after it, and made it the standard moving forward because it wasn't up to standard the week before.
“We made a commitment to (coach Andrew McQualter) and a commitment to ‘Gov' (Jeremy McGovern) and Dom (Sheed) and ‘Duggo' (captain Liam Duggan) to make sure that our intent was really strong.”
The absence of Duggan due to suspension for the last two matches of the season could see McCarthy's magnet thrown back in defence, while Liam Baker, playing his 150th AFL game this weekend against the Western Bulldogs, will lead the side.
McCarthy has previously expressed leadership aspirations, and although inexperienced at the top level, his confidence will be key in the last fortnight of the season.
“I'm 25 now, so I want to put my hand up to be a guy people can lean on," McCarthy said.
“I want to be loud out on the footy field.
“There's other guys like Tom Cole and Elijah Hewett, these young guys coming through that have voice.
“We'll keep leaning on each other and help out ‘Bakes' this week.”
