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Sport Nation
McQualter pleased with Eagles performance despite remaining winless
Nicholas Quinlan • April 19th, 2025 1:16 pm
While West Coast might be 0-6 for the season, Eagles coach Andrew McQualter was somewhat pleased by the performance his team displayed in their loss to Essendon.
West Coast fell short by two points against the Bombers at Optus Stadium having led for the majority of the game after a scintillating start that saw them led by a game-high 29 points early in the second quarter.
In his initial assessment of the game in his press conference, McQualter felt that despite not winning, the Eagles had certainly improved from last week.
“Clearly a much-improved performance; really disappointed not to get the win,” McQualter said glumly.
“I thought we put ourselves in a really winnable position for leading the game for really the majority of the game and even being able to dominate in the last quarter, but we were just not able to score.
“So, in the metrics we looked after, there was a fair bit of green in today’s game but ultimately the one we want in the green is the scoreboard at the end of the game.”
One of the most notable improvements for the Eagles was their ability to win contested possession.
In last week’s match against Carlton, the Eagles were only able to manage 77 contested possessions which was the lowest recorded since Champion Data started collecting stats.
However, they made a quick turnaround collecting 119 against Essendon and beating out the Bombers in this stat by two showing some improvement.
This was despite being beaten in the clearance game.
McQualter also noted the importance of Elijah Hewett for the Eagles.
The 20-year-old mid-forward would have an increased presence in the midfield as he booted two goals, five score involvements and 22 disposals in one of the best games he has played in his 18-game career.
“He was reasonably quiet in the first half, he hasn’t played much football even this year but for a young 20-year-old, he was really able to dominate the game in the second half,” McQualter noted.
“Almost had all of those 12 contested possessions in the second half, provided some inspiration to his teammates around him.
“I thought it was a great step forward for him and the more he plays, the more he will build.”
On an MRO front, Harley Reid is unlikely to be suspended after making head contact with Essendon’s Archie Roberts head during the first quarter.
Roberts was able to play out the remainder of the match, making a suspension unlikely.
This was noted on Fox Footy’s broadcast with Matthew Pavlich believing it was not severe enough to warrant a suspension but enough for a second look.
“It’s high. It’s not severe or too significant but they (MRO) will certainly have a look at it,” he said.
