AFLW: Former Carey Park ruck Beth Schilling to debut for West Coast Eagles in Optus Stadium double-header

Former Carey Park ruck Beth Schilling will debut for the West Coast Eagles this weekend. And her first game will come on the biggest stage, with the Eagles to face the Western Bulldogs in an historic Optus Stadium double-header on Saturday. Schilling, who played for Carey Park before shifting to Peel Thunder, was taken by the Eagles with pick 24 in last year’s draft. Having played country football as a ruck, Schilling is most likely to line-up for her new AFLW side as a defender, where she has become known for her intercept marking ability. The 18-year-old has been forced to wait for her debut, with the club having just two more games to play this season. Schilling played 10 games for the Thunder’s league side, before moving to Subiaco this season, where she has taken six marks and collected 22 disposals from her first two WAFLW games. On Monday, Eagles senior coach Michael Prior warned that many of his charges would be playing for their careers in the final fortnight of the season. The jarring comments came after the club’s thumping 74-point loss to the Brisbane Lions. “A few of them took a backwards step but there’s a few games to go for them to show they want to be here and take this club forward,” Prior said. “It was a terrible effort all round. We got beaten in every area. We couldn’t change the momentum in the game. Everything went wrong today.” The Eagles take on the Bulldogs at 6.40pm on Saturday, immediately after Manjimup’s Dana East and the Fremantle Dockers take on Melbourne at the same ground.