FOR THE first time in its existence, West Coast's AFLW team has had a rare period of stability.
The Eagles cycled through three senior coaches in their first three seasons (at least one change forced for personal reasons) and then methodically worked their way through rebuilding the playing list.
Between seasons six and seven (both played in 2022), 13 players left West Coast either through retirement, delisting or moving clubs. Going back further, 10 had moved on between seasons five (2021) and six.
This off-season, the Eagles only cut four players – three forced changes to bring the list back down to 30 after some temporary injury replacement signings, and one to allow ex-Docker Amy Franklin to join the team.
Young key forward Franklin was the only fresh face at West Coast's Lathlain headquarters until the late addition of Mackenzie Webb earlier this week as an injury replacement for Krstel Petrevski (syndesmosis).
"This time last year, we were standing here, and I was telling you we had 14 new players, so it is nice to just have that continuity with the playing group," West Coast captain Emma Swanson told afl.com.au.
"We obviously brought Amy Franklin over, which has been amazing as well. She's had experience at AFLW level, so it was a real easy transition for us to go into this year.
"We didn't have the usual induction couple of weeks where we had to teach everyone 'This is where the toilets are, this is where the changerooms are', so it's been really nice."
The maintenance of the list has allowed West Coast – which finished 16th in season seven with two wins and a percentage of 53, an increase from one win and 43 per cent in season six – some much-needed time to work on cohesiveness across the field.
"We've had a huge focus on our ball movement, and I'm sure a lot of other clubs are probably telling you the exact same thing. Our contest and ball movement have been two of our major focuses," Swanson said.
"Hopefully we can move the ball a lot faster, play free-flowing football with less parameters. We want to take what the game gives us and move the ball as quickly as we can.
"There's probably some crazy stat to tell you that getting the ball inside 30 in women's football is more important than inside 50. So, if we can move the ball fast and get it in nice and deep, it increases our chances of scoring, and scoring equals winning, and winning equals finals."
The Eagles have three players returning from torn ACLs this year: forwards Kellie Gibson and Shanae Davison, and ruck Lauren Wakfer.
Wakfer was selected with pick No.15 in the 2022 AFLW Draft despite having just ruptured her ACL, such was the regard with which she was held in West Australian junior ranks.
She will make her AFLW debut on Sunday in the Western Derby against Fremantle.
"It feels like [the three have] been back for a while, it was pretty early in pre-season they came back to the main group, which was really good for them to have nearly a full pre-season," Swanson said.
"In [Wakfer's] draft year, towards the back end of her under-18s year, she was up there with Ella Roberts. Probably shows you how exciting she will be for us.
"Coming back off a 12-month injury at such a young age with no AFLW experience, it's going to take some time, but we've seen growth from her throughout this pre-season, and I'm super proud of how far she's come.
"She's attacked her rehab so well – I'm pretty sure her family came over to Melbourne for Christmas, and she stayed in Perth to do her rehab. That kind of gives you an indication of what sort of person she is and how hard she's worked over the past 12 months."
