West Coast's horror 2025 campaign continued on Saturday night as the 16th placed Richmond Tigers belted the lowly Eagles by 49 points at Optus Stadium, the home team lacking fight after halftime.
The once prestigious Western Australian club has slumped to a dismal 1-17 record and seems unlikely to register a second victory in their remaining five games, which would make them the first team since GWS in 2013 to record just one win in a full home-and-away season.
Eagles senior coach Andrew McQualter admitted the group has been feeling defeated, even at quarter-time on Saturday night, as they failed to damage the scoreboard despite dominating the opening frame.
West Coast managed five more inside 50s in that term but did not capitalise on the strong start, scoring from just 35.7% of their inside 50s, and kicking a goal from just 14.3%.
"We're seeing a team that is trying, that is working hard, but is in such a void of confidence," McQualter said post-game.
"You look at that first quarter tonight; it was a pretty dominant quarter of football, but we go into quarter-time down on the scoreboard. I think it's hurting deep in the souls of our players when that happens.
"It's a tricky position that we're in, that we're showing signs of getting better and are playing good football, but we're not getting rewarded for that on the scoreboard. Ultimately, that is what we play for and what we're judged on."
While the Eagles kept up with the Tigers throughout the first half, trailing by just nine points at the main break, the team capitulated in a brutal third quarter, conceding eight goals while being unable to break up Richmond's outside running game, losing the uncontested possession count by 21 in the term.
"It was a pretty simple game [tonight], obviously we didn't use the ball well and we really struggled to defend behind our turnovers," McQualter said.
"Statistically, the game was fairly even on most accounts. We generated enough entry [inside 50], but our skill level wasn't to AFL standard, and we struggled to defend behind those turnovers. Richmond scored nine goals from their back half."
However, there was one bright spot for the Eagles in this contest. Harley Reid played arguably his best game of the season, days after coming under fire for his ill-discipline and fiery attitude on the field that has seen him give away 54 free kicks this season, a league high. The young gun recorded 27 disposals and two goals in a dominant effort from the midfield, attending 79% of centre bounces and winning six clearances. He also won four free kicks, the third-highest tally of his career.
McQualter was thrilled with Harley's "investment" in the game, but his stellar individual performance presented a significant issue the Eagles must address if they wish to keep Reid at the club long-term.
"We're aware that we've got a 20-year-old carrying our midfield," McQualter said.
"It's not an easy position for him... we're going to work hard to give him help. We did a few things in the last quarter to give him a couple of different looks, and he's fighting his way through it.
"I thought Harley was by far our best player tonight. I loved the way he went about it, I loved his team-first approach, the way he attacked the ball. He was inspirational to his teammates."
That inspiration only goes so far, however, and McQualter affirmed the need for AFL-ready players who will make an impact on the game, just as Reid does each week.
"As a team we have to find more players and ways to not rely on one person. There's no AFL team ever that relies on one player to be good, so we're going to keep working hard to find and create players that can keep influencing the game.
"Harley is absolutely in [on the Eagles], he's a competitor and wanting to do everything to get this club out of this position. Nobody likes losing, I appreciate that part of it, we're all sick to death of it, but we're the only people who can make a change.
"It's people inside the four walls that can get us out of here, and we have to do it together."
The second Western Australia derby of the season is next on the agenda for Reid and the Eagles as they look to cause a boilover against the Fremantle Dockers on Saturday, July 26.
