At Mineral Resources Park on Saturday afternoon, despite putting up a fierce display against Adelaide in second position, the West Coast Eagles lost by a score of 26 points.
The team’s effort pleased interim coach Rohan McHugh, even if they were unable to win the four points.
Indeed, McHugh remarked, “It was a good performance; spirit is a good word.”
“I like the word spirit. I’m happy with the girls. We came here to win today, and that was something we talked about. Obviously, we didn’t get the result.”
“But above all, we wanted to make sure the process worked, and I believe we did—just not with the points.”
The way the Eagles moved the ball and applied it impressed McHugh, who said it made for thrilling football for the fans to watch.
After the game, McHugh told the girls, “I think the ball movement piece was the biggest piece. Since I’ve been here anyway, I think that probably would have been the best game to watch potentially.”
And that’s exactly what we want—people growing the game both live and on TV, which was really thrilling.
The previous two weeks have been focused on the girls’ strengths, so I think they really loved playing it. We brought the stuff we wanted to do, and it improved our ball movement in especially.
Eagles forward Kellie Gibson kicked two goals in her 50th AFLW game, totalling 12 goals in 2023 and has become the first Eagle to kick a double-figure tally in a season, and McHugh praised all the hard work she has put in.
“Herself has made herself an attacking forward and the work that she’s done,” McHugh said.
“The passion that she plays with, she’s been enormous for us this year and she should be really proud of herself.
“Leading goal kicker, the first one to kick that many goals, she kicked two, she probably could have kicked five today, she’s been massive, she was really good today and has been all year for us.”
With some inspiring individual performances around the ground, McHugh celebrated the players finding a method that works best for them.
“I wrote the word ‘method’ up on the board after the game and said we found a method today that works for us as a team,” McHugh said.
We’ll have our exit meeting and make sure they realize what their brand of football does for us, so I believe that was the most pleasant thing. However, individually, they found a system that works for them personally as well, which was really pleasing.
“Some of the individual performances over the past few weeks have been outstanding. For example, Abbygail Bushby, who played midfield and had 21 touches and a goal today, was enormous for a young youngster who will be a mainstay in our midfield for years to come.
“Charlie Thomas, Ella Roberts, and even ‘Swanny’ (Emma Swanson, our captain) played quite well—I could go on and on—but pleasantly, everyone found their way and what they needed.