ENERGY around West Coast's AFLW program this year has been up. With Daisy Pearce at the helm, the intangible feeling that things are on the right track is swirling.

The club got its season off on the right track on Friday with a hard-fought win over Richmond, and while the positive start can somewhat be attributed to that energy, some key factors were on show in the victory.

Personnel

Five Eagles made their AFLW debut in the win, and a further two played in the blue and gold for the first time.

They took the place of some key names, who were missing through injury, including captain Emma Swanson, important key defender Sophie McDonald, and recruits Roxy Roux and Annabel Johnson.

At an average age of 23 years and 349 days, and an average experience of 21 games across the selected side, the Eagles were young and relatively inexperienced heading into the game.

But what the side proved is that its highly touted young talent has great connection as a unit, making them greater than the sum of their parts.

The defence

While the team's average experience might have been 21 games, across the backline that dropped to 15.3 games – much of that carried by the team's most experienced player Belinda Smith.

But as the line worked as a cohesive unit, rather than leaving individuals to fend for themselves, they caused some chaos for Richmond's far more established attacking group.

With the likes of Georgie Cleaver, Zoe Wakfar, and Beth Schilling largely taking up the key defensive posts to nullify the impact of Katie Brennan and Caitlin Greiser, 2023 All-Australian Charlie Thomas was provided some freedom to roam and intercept the footy.

Working together, they conceded a goal from just 14.7 per cent of Richmond's inside 50 entries, well below the 20.3 per cent goal efficiency it conceded across the 2023 season.

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Although this was assisted by Richmond's poor conversion at goal, the pressure the Eagles backs were able to apply, and ability to defend higher up the ground was a massive factor.

They were also assisted by wingers Jaide Britton and Sasha Goranova pressing back to support, and forward Amy Franklin swinging behind the ball late in quarters.

The unit was proactive, rather than reactive. Working to read the play and aggressively turn defence into attack, it was able to adapt to Richmond's attempts to surge the footy forward with one percenters.

Debutant Jess Rentsch was a key proponent of this aggressive rebounding, and it was only made possible by the trust she had in her teammates to support should something not quite work.

Young stars

The addition of senior, experienced duo Alison Drennan and Jess Hosking was crucial to how the Eagles played on Friday. Their strength at the contest and pure grit was important, but what also shone through was the skill and talent Pearce has been able to draw from the side's young stars.

Ella Roberts was given the freedom to play between the midfield and forward line, and regularly found herself with the ball in space, able to run and carry, take a bounce or two, and gain significant meterage.

Thomas' work down back bore a team-high 24 disposals and 13 intercepts, and Bella Lewis was elevated to captain in Swanson's absence.

Lauren Wakfer went toe-to-toe with Poppy Kelly in the ruck, and while the latter was strong for the Tigers, Wakfer found ways to impact on the deck with seven tackles. Meanwhile Abbygail Bushby's neat skills set up teammates in a more controlled method of ball movement.

Signs are positive for the Eagles this year, but it is important no-one gets ahead of themselves. As part of a developing program, with reliance on such a young group, there will be moments they falter.

But something that is clear, however, is that West Coast is already on track to have its best season since joining the AFLW in 2020, and that's good for footy.