EMERGING West Coast backman Tom Barrass says he has trimmed down after feeling "pretty fat" towards the end of his breakout 2016 season.

Barrass, who has established himself as one of the competition's most promising young key defenders, has been turning heads since returning to pre-season training in impressive condition.

"I've leaned up a little bit from last year. I was pretty fat towards the back end of the year," Barrass told westcoasteagles.com.au.

"That's just the nature of the season, with carb-loading you tend to stack on a few (kilos).

"But I'm feeling a bit leaner and a bit lighter this pre-season, but I don't feel like I've lost too much strength."

Barrass, who was listed as 93kg last season, came from relative obscurity to hold down his spot ahead of 2014 club champion Eric Mackenzie.

The 21-year-old was in West Coast's best side from round 12 onwards and looks set to form a combination with fellow key defensive revelation Jeremy McGovern for years to come.

"I suppose last year was a little bit surprising, but at the same time I felt that I really got on top of my preparation last year and even through the WAFL I was playing good footy," Barrass said.

"When I got into the side and I was able to start stringing some games together, it was a little bit surprising, but at the same time it's just a game of football at a higher level.

"I was confident that I would be able to continue my form."

Barrass earned the final NAB AFL Rising Star nomination of 2016 for his standout effort in an emphatic win against Adelaide, taking 10 marks and at times easily outpointing star forwards Taylor Walker and Josh Jenkins.

But after that high, his and the Eagles' season came to a shuddering halt in an elimination final loss to eventual premiers the Western Bulldogs the following week – a defeat that Barrass believes will drive West Coast over summer.

"The elimination final was really disappointing for the boys and there was going to be fire in the belly no matter how we finished the season, if we won the Grand Final or went out the way we did," he said.

"I wasn't part of the Grand Final loss (to Hawthorn) so I don't have something to contrast it to the previous year, but I feel like since we were thrown into off-season so abruptly it was a bit of a shock.

"It seemed to kick-start a bit of emotion and a bit of motivation for this pre-season."