Ex-West Coast Eagles star Josh Kennedy is confident players will ignore history during North Melbourne clash

Former West Coast star Josh Kennedy is confident the Eagles won’t feel the pressure of finally having a winnable game as they get closer to an unwanted club record. The Eagles will enter Sunday’s game against North Melbourne at Optus Stadium having lost 14 consecutive games. The club’s record is 16 matches and West Coast’s next four games are away to Port Adelaide, home against Sydney, Gather Round against Geelong and then the western derby. North Melbourne won only five games last season and have been a bottom four team for the last six seasons. But they were impressive during a home win over Port Adelaide last week and bookmakers have them as clear favourites. Kennedy said West Coast’s approach would never change regardless of records or opponents and that the future is more important than the past. “There’s all of those records but players don’t worry about them. You don’t care and you just zone out of them. You know that records like that don’t matter in the future when you start winning,” he told The West Australian. “You never come into a game thinking this one is a chance or this one isn’t because you always think you can win every game. As a fan on the sidelines, you definitely pencil in wins, especially when you’re playing at home. North played well last week so will be a big challenge though.” West Coast have a young team as they look to rise up the ladder but Kennedy said it was important for the players to remain patient. He said the squad had to understand that their hard work will pay off. “As long as you put the work in on the track, you know that eventually those wins will come,” he said. “It is hard when you’re consistently losing. In 2010 we won the wooden spoon and it was very hard. We had four wins. We had a few tight losses too but the wins you have instil belief in what you’re doing. You are looking in the mirror constantly at yourself and your team because you know where you are at.” Kennedy will have added interest in this weekend’s games at Optus Stadium as an ambassador for NickNack - the new reusable cups being introduced. Optus Stadium is Australia’s first major stadium to introduce a venue-wide 100% reusable drink cup system. Each cup is designed for up to 500 reuse cycles, and 10,000 cups can be washed and cleaned every hour. “Hopefully this keeps expanding around Australia because NickNack cups have been used overseas at Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen, so we know it works,” Kennedy said. “We know single-use plastic is a massive issue so having re-usable cups at a stadium reduces that footprint.”