The West Coast Eagles have come away from the weekend with their first points of 2024, comfortably beating Richmond by 39 points at Optus Stadium.
With their form improving, and their young players beginning to put in some strong performances, selection may become an issue for the Eagles, who have several first team players running through the WAFL.
The West Coast WAFL side won their first game in 660 days against East Fremantle, headlined by premiership stars Dom Sheed and Liam Ryan, alongside club legend Andrew Gaff.
The Eagles General Manager of Football Gavin Bell spoke with SEN’s Mark Duffield about the flow on impact of their WAFL win.
“(The win is) a great reward,” Bell told SEN WA Mornings with Mark Duffield.
“All of our people down in our WAFL program do a hell of a lot of work, they put in a lot of time, a lot of effort.
“There’s a lot of good players playing there so it’s great to see them respond.
“It certainly put a pep in (the senior team’s) step walking into the stadium.”
The WAFL win saw Eagles star Liam Ryan trial a new role across the half-back line in his return to football after close to a year out with injury. He collected 19 touches with five marks in a solid performance that may see Adam Simpson shuffle the magnets for his return.
“It’s certainly part of the discussion of what we need to do going forward with Liam. How can he help us get back to being the team we want?” Bell said.
“We’ll certainly stay open with how we do that.
“I’m sure that after 12 months out he’s pulled up a little bit sore just in general.
“Really looking forward to watching him build over the next couple of weeks, whether that’s in the WAFL or the AFL program.”
Meanwhile, questions still remain around the availability of Andrew Gaff, following his omission from the senior team in Round 2.
Gaff has played some strong football in the WAFL, finding 21 touches in the club’s win over the weekend.
Bell remains adamant that the 31-year-old will play again, however is pleased with how he’s tracking during his time in the WAFL.
“He remains one of our great players of all time, there’s no doubt about that. His impact on our footy club has been significant”, he said.
“At the moment he’s playing WAFL, he’s having a real impact down there as a leader, he’s driving the group at the moment.
“We haven’t put a line through him. He’s still available for selection and continuing to build his form, build his touch playing the game in an AFL standard, in an AFL way.
“We couldn’t speak more highly of how he’s approached his time in the WAFL.”
The Eagles will enter the Western Derby off the back of a strong win, aiming to break Fremantle’s derby dominance running since August of 2021.