WAFL 2023 Season Preview – West Coast EaglesFriday, March 31, 2023 - 9:25 AM - by Chris Pike

IT has been a rough couple of years in the WAFL for the West Coast Eagles but there is plenty of reason for optimism that they can be a vastly more competitive outfit in the 2023 season.

When West Coast first became a standalone club in the WAFL they made an immediate impact on the competition reaching the finals back in 2019 and going on to beat West Perth in an elimination final.

However, Covid ravaged them over the next couple of years and then with the injury troubles the Eagles were having at AFL level in 2022, it flowed down to their WAFL team and it was a struggle to field a team, and be competitive at times throughout the season.

As a result, it's been a last three years from hell in terms of the WAFL for West Coast. The Eagles couldn’t field a team at all thanks to Covid in 2020 before then winning just four of 18 games in 2021, and one of 18 in 2022.

So with just five wins to their name over the last past three years since that finals appearance, it's a long road back for West Coast in the WAFL but it could be a quick path on the back of some strong signings, and if they have a stronger contingent of Eagles AFL-listed players available.

With a Hall of Famer as coach in Rob Wiley, the Eagles will again be well led and they have been able to secure some significant signings for the 2023 season.

West Coast have kept Jackson Nelson after he was delisted from the club's AFL list and he has been appointed captain with Alec Waterman also back at the Eagles after losing his spot on Essendon's list at the end of 2022.

Tyler Collins, Jarrod Garlett, Shannon Lucassen, Jack O'Sullivan and Ethan Sambo are among the other players that West Coast has been able to sign for 2023 in a bid to get some wins on the board, and not only improve, but become a finals contender again.

Wiley is especially excited by the level of quality players they have been able to bring in for this season.

"It’s been a huge coup for the WAFL side to have that experience. Adding those players to the ones we were able to develop last year gives us a bit more depth," Wiley said. 

"We’ve also been able to get a few amateur and country footballers down to either re-ignite their WAFL career or have a crack, so we’ve had some really good numbers on the track."

Wiley is under no illusions of the task ahead of the Eagles to make the leap from a one-win team to being a strong force in 2023, but he's confident there's enough in place to make it possible.

"We’re out there to be a really competitive side who wants to win games. Certainly last year was a learning curve with COVID and injuries to the AFL side making it a challenge," Wiley said.

"There’s a lot of good young guys that need to be developed and obviously some will be at WAFL level in that early development, but we also need to improve our WAFL squad which we’ve gone through. In the end we need to turn it around and show that West Coast is an important part of the WAFL."

Nelson is a significant signing for West Coast's WAFL team after he lost his place on the AFL list at the Eagles after a 102-game career at the top level.

However, he committed to remain involved at the Eagles and remain in Western Australia, and was quick to sign on with the WAFL team and has since been appointed captain for the 2023 season.

Being appointed skipper is a tremendous honour in the eyes of Nelson.

"It’s obviously a massive privilege. There’s been some handy players who have come before me as captain in Hamish Brayshaw, Zane Sumich and Fraser McInnes," Nelson said.

"There’s an illustrious crew there who have all done great things for the club, and to lead this exciting new group of players is an honour. The new draftees and new young players coming through, helping them is going to be awesome."

For Nelson, it was an easy decision to want to stay in WA even after his AFL career, and once that decision was made, continuing to play in the WAFL at the Eagles didn’t take much time to think over either.

"The club has been my home for the last eight years and I wanted to stay in Perth," Nelson said.

"I enjoyed playing WAFL at the back end of last year and hanging around the WAFL boys, and hopefully I can still have some impact at that level. 

"Hopefully I can help develop some of the young guys coming through as well. Leadership and coaching might interest me - that’s something I’m pretty passionate about. 

"Connecting with the young blokes and understanding they’re going to go through hard times and getting dropped and being out of the senior side – I’ve definitely experienced that throughout my career – so if I can help them in some way that’s the thought process behind it."

Another player the Eagles will be looking for big things from is Waterman, who will return to the WAFL having spent the past two seasons with Essendon where he played 22 AFL matches and kicked 27 goals.

Prior to that, he kicked 26 goals in the 10 games of the shortened 2020 WAFL season helping Claremont to the Grand Final, and now he can't wait to be back home and playing with the Eagles.

"I had a few conversations with the club and through management about the opportunities that are still there to potentially play AFL and for me, personally, there’s things I want to explore off-field," Waterman said.

"There’s also the opportunity to play with some mates in the WAFL side if the AFL dream isn’t reached. 

"The family link is another little part of it. All of them put together, I thought it was pretty cool to come back and have a bit of fun and potentially make something of it. 

"I’d love to help develop the young players. If they can take a bit of advice from me up into the seniors that’s great."