Andrew McQualter endured a tormenting first season as an AFL head coach in 2025, leading the West Coast Eagles to a 1-22 record. It was an ugly piece of unwanted history, with one of the AFL era's most successful clubs becoming just the fifth team in 50 years to register a solitary win in a given season.
McQualter promised an 'extensive review' after the final game of the season - another humiliating loss at the hands of a Sydney Swans side that was similarly spending September on the sidelines.
There exists a myriad of adjectives to describe 'Mini's demeanour during the most trying of campaigns, and few of them are positive. He was gruff at times, abrasive at others, and bordering on defeated on multiple occasions. This is a man who inherited a list that was, in truth, not up to standard.
Ambivalence towards the cattle that netted the Eagles their 2018 premiership set the club back, with their current predicament the consequence. This is not excusing that pattern of decision making, but rather contextualising the youth and subsequent lack of competitiveness that currently befalls the club. In 2025, West Coast was the youngest (24.6 years of age) and least experienced (75.6 games played) side in the competition.
By McQualter's own admission, this summer is crucial for his club's trajectory.
"We're going to have to deep dive review everything we do, every part of our program … to try and learn what worked this year, what didn't, and how we're going to improve it," he said in the aftermath of their final appearance last season.
It can be reasonably assumed that an autopsical, fine-toothed comb is indeed being taken to processes at Mineral Resources Park, but just what can be reasonably expected of the Eagles in McQualter's sophomore season? What are some areas of their game that necessitate improvement, and what metrics can they be judged against? Will 'Mini' move the magnets?
Time will tell, but in the meantime, here is some triaging of the Eagles' focus areas.
It all starts in the middle. The Eagles were the worst team in the league for total clearances per game. They were also last for possessions per game (a whopping 21 fewer per game than the second-worst Tigers), and contested possessions per game. The Eagles were the only team in the competition to register fewer than 120 contested possessions per game. Infamously, in real time, McQualter lambasted his charges as "pathetic" in this space during a Round 14 loss to Carlton.
The Eagles also seemingly did not trust themselves by foot, and with good reason. The side had the worst inside 50 kick retention percentage in the league - a woeful 40.4%. An inability to win the football, coupled with this lack of potency by foot, bred a hesitancy to utilise the game's most foundational skill, as the Eagles were the only side in the competition to register fewer than 190 kicks per game.
The Eagles were also one of only three sides to average fewer than 10 goals per game. They averaged the third-fewest inside 50s per game, were league-worst for scores per inside 50, and were one of only two sides to average fewer than 10 marks inside 50.
Diagnosis of the causes of this shortcoming reveal tactical and personnel issues - in addition to losing the territory battle by way of clearance impotence, their two spearheads were either unavailable, or underperforming. All-Australian Jake Waterman missed much of the season after a shoulder reconstruction, and captain Oscar Allen was seemingly as interested in meeting with opposition coaches as he was with improving his side's on-field fortunes.
Yet all is not lost.
The continued development of key forward prospects Jobe Shanahan and Archer Reid promises to allay some concerns regarding an inability to take marks in the front half. Shanahan's play in his first season harked back to the forward craft of yesteryear, while Reid's aerial presence will likely be showcased more in 2026 after needing to spend time further up the field in 2025. Both men will look to provide competitive foil for Jake Waterman, should the talisman return from injury as expected.
The side's woeful play has netted them the No.1 pick in the National Draft in two of the last three seasons. Harley Reid's name was called in 2023, and he has gone on to build quite the resume in a young career, claiming Rising Star honours, the 2024 Goal of the Year gong and a podium finish in the 2025 John Worsfold Medal.
Eagles faithful will be hoping Willem Duursma can begin his career in similarly devastating fashion, after they selected the Gippsland product first overall in the 2025 draft. Pundits expect the youngest Duursma sibling to be employed in an offensive role off the half-back line, utilising his athletic prowess and damaging skillset, freeing up Tom McCarthy to play more of a role in the midfield. It would be no small win for Duursma to feature in every possible game for the Eagles in his debut season, accelerating his development and building chemistry with his teammates.
Similarly, Harley Reid overcoming his mild case of the second year blues and establishing himself as a true league A-grader, and claiming his first John Worsfold Medal as the club's best and fairest player, would be a step in the right direction for his career, and the fortunes of his club.
A greater understanding of roles in the midfield and the subsequent balance this should strike will improve the Eagles, and quickly. Veterans Jack Graham, Elliot Yeo and reigning best and fairest Liam Baker bring a defensive mongrel to the group that, in theory, should allow offensive talents like Reid, a pinch-hitting Duursma and a polished runner in McCarthy to drive an improved scoring profile.
The arrival of premiership Lion Brandon Starcevich in the recent trade window means the Eagles boast two of the competition's premier small defenders, with Brady Hough firmly entrenched in that conversation himself. Complicating matters, both men harbour the ambition to morph into midfielders. It's unlikely the defensive prowess of both stoppers will be sacrificed to fulfil their respective desires, but it's not outside the realms of possibility that one of the defenders will make that move. Whoever receives 'Mini's blessing to do so promises to thrive, helping to address the lengthy issues in the Eagles' midfield, while the other will no doubt continue exhibiting a skillset most small backs in the league would envy.
A lot of shortcomings represent a lot of opportunity. Year two seems a more fitting year to draw conclusions about McQualter's ability to coach a side than year one was, and if inroads in these fundamental aspects of the game can be made, surely wins will be more forthcoming than they were in 2025.
