West Coast Eagles Head of AFLW Michelle Cowan welcomes having harder draw next season after finals debut

West Coast have welcomed the prospect of entering next season with a significantly harder draw, saying they will improve quicker by playing elite opposition. The Eagles played their first ever finals series this season and lost to Carlton in Saturday’s elimination final by 41 points, handing them a savage lesson about how hard it is to compete on the bigger stage. West Coast finished 13th last year and under the AFLW weighted fixture system, the Eagles played five teams that finished in the bottom six, four that were in the middle six and only three that made the top six. Now that they’ve finished eighth, they will play four top six, five middle six and only three bottom six clubs. But West Coast’s Head of AFLW Michelle Cowan said that will be a boost for the squad. “We’re happy to play the best teams because we know we’ll only get better,” Cowan told The West Australian. “The experience they got in a final campaign is probably worth five games in itself with the preparation and pressure. That’s been really good for our players to experience. “I’d love to play North Melbourne next year. I’d love to and I know our players would love to do that as well. And Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and the teams that continue to perform week in and week out and who are the ones that are always the last ones standing. “There’s still this gap between the best teams and us. If we keep progressing the way we have, I think we will start to bridge that gap really quickly. We just have to roll up the sleeves and get to work.” Cowan said it was important to bolster every position on the field with the Eagles needing a key defender, inside midfielder and goal-kicking forward to challenge the best teams. She said playing more practice matches will also give the team important experience, with the AFLW keen to double the amount of pre-season games. Cowan said the Eagles had taken major steps off the field throughout the season and now every player understands how hard they have to work to be successful. “It’s the professionalism of the group. They want to compete with the teams at the top of the ladder and in order to do that, you’ve got to be professional on and off the field,” she said. “They’ve leant into the resources of high performance, dietitians and specialist coaches. They’re absolute sponges and want to be the best they can be.”