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Full Noise by SN
Live sport on SN this weekend13 days: How WAFL star landed Eagles list spot
Harry Cumming • March 13th, 2026 5:05 pm
Amidst the outside noise, the West Coast Eagles are looking to the future led by senior coach Andrew McQualter as he begins his second season at the helm.
Having won just 11 games and lost 80 since the start of the 2022 season, Eagles fans will be greatly anticipating the arrival of a new era with a brigade of young talent making their mark at Mineral Resources Park over the pre-season.
It has resulted in six debutants being named in the side as they prepare to make the trip across the country and face Gold Coast on Sunday.
McQualter joined SEN WA to discuss the season opener with Peter Bell and Tim Gossage.
“The announcements almost took longer than our training session yesterday but as you can hear there’s excitement from our players,” McQualter said.
“Four new debutants to the AFL system and two playing at their first game for our club, which is really exciting.”
One of those debutants is Milan Murdock who was only signed as an SSP in late February.
The 25-year-old midfielder had won three best and fairest awards for WAFL side East Fremantle before receiving the call to join the Eagles as a rookie.
Now, he’s set to line up against the likes of Touk Miller, Christian Petracca and Noah Anderson.
“This will sound ridiculous in some ways, but I think he's been 13 days now inside our footy club and he has been incredibly impressive since he started with his training and the way he goes about it,” McQualter said.
“But he's also 25 years old and has an incredible resume of state league footy. So, there's a lot of confidence that we've taken from that. He knows how to play the game.
“It's not like another one of our 18-year-old draftees where you're not sure where he goes in senior football, so no, he's made a great start, and, really excited to see him get his first game.”
The other debutants for Round 1 include number 1 draft pick Willem Duursma and fellow first-rounders Josh Lindsay and Cooper Duff-Tytler. Meanwhile Deven Robertson and Tylar Young will play their first games for West Coast after joining from Brisbane and Richmond respectively.
The injection of youth and new names at the club continues to build on the list that includes Harley Reid, Jake Waterman and Reuben Ginbey as West Coast seek to block the outside noise and clinch a few more wins in 2026.
With some pundits tipping the Eagles to go winless in 2026 and to be thumped by the Suns this weekend, what does McQualter make of all the criticism being levelled at his side?
“Well, it's just irrelevant,” McQualter said.
“I appreciate that it's a big challenge flying over there to Gold Coast. Someone told me the other day that they're flag favourites after their win last week. So, it just probably shows you how quickly things can change.
“But we're up for the challenge.
“And we're taking over our squad who are really hungry to help our football club get on the right path.”
It might not be easy, but this new crop of Eagles players will be keen to prove the doubters wrong in 2026 under the leadership of McQualter.
West Coast will look to get their season started on the right path this Sunday at 6:10pm AEDT/3:10pm AWST as they begin their 2026 campaign against the Suns at People First Stadium.
