West Coast defender Reuben Ginbey says he disagrees with former AFL player Tom Mitchell's brutal assessment of pre-season images displaying Eagles players on the ground following a running test.
Mitchell labelled footage from the session as "embarrassing", prompting a media frenzy.
"This image is utterly embarrassing for the West Coast Eagles on day one of pre-season," Mitchell said.
"Look at the body language - from all reports, they've just done their first running test, 11 200-metre sprints, and I've done that test before and don't get me wrong, AFL pre-seasons are one of the hardest things you'll ever do, but look at the body language."
However, Ginbey didn't agree, explaining that many of his teammates hit personal bests in the new running test.
"Tom Mitchell is a decorated player, and he is well and truly within his rights to give his opinion, but I disagree," Ginbey said on SEN.
"I'd spin the narrative the other way and say, look at West Coast boys willing to work their ass off the last two months, run until they can't stand. If that was a drill, valid point, but it was a time trial. You only do two of them a year. I'd be disappointed in the boys if they run their hearts out and they're all standing up.
"I was proud of the efforts. I ran that test. I was down on my hands and knees for about five to ten seconds. But if you play it a bit longer, the leadership will come in, and we get around each other.
"That's his opinion. We have our standards internally. A lot of PBs."
Ginbey explained the test was something the club hasn't done before, gearing away from the traditional 2km time trial and Beep Test.
"We've done a 2km-er. We've done a beep test. This is a new one. This is 11x200m on the one minute. Boys do it between 28 and 36 seconds, and then you have to go on the every minute. It's the hardest test we've done," he said.
