EMERGING West Coast big Jack Williams insists he and his teammates aren't offended by the number of candidates who have already ruled themselves out of the club's senior coaching role.
The Eagles have been on the lookout for a new coach since parting ways with Adam Simpson in July.
Former West Coast ruckman Dean Cox was the early hot favourite to replace Simpson, but he ruled himself out so he could stay in his assistant's role at Sydney.
Port Adelaide assistant Josh Carr, former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley and Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham have also pulled out of the race.
West Coast is in the midst of the biggest rebuild in the club's history, and some experts predict it will be several years before it is a genuine finals contender again.
But the players themselves are more optimistic, especially given the arrival of Harley Reid, Reuben Ginbey, Elijah Hewett, Brady Hough, Williams, Campbell Chesser, Noah Long and Clay Hall among others in recent years.
"Nah not at all, we don't worry about that," Williams replied on Monday when asked if the players had been offended by so many coaching candidates dropping out.
"We have faith in the club they'll pick the right person.
"We just focus on playing our footy. We know the right candidate will come up and the club will select them."
Interim coach Jarrad Schofield gave his chances of landing the role full-time a big boost by guiding the Eagles to a 10-point win over Gold Coast on Friday night.
The performance followed a fighting effort in a 35-point Western Derby loss to Fremantle.
West Coast, under orders from Schofield, has been significantly more physical over the past fortnight, with that hunger to win the ball translating into much better performances.
"Schoey's really driving playing on the edge, and that really drives intensity when you're out there on the field," Williams said ahead of Saturday's clash with North Melbourne in Hobart.
"We were able to play a good first half with good intensity in the derby, but we fell away.
"We took the next step on Friday (against Gold Coast). We were able to do it for four quarters."
Williams is being touted as a future star after making a steady progression since his debut in 2022.
The 20-year-old is 198cm tall, and he's been thriving as a forward who spends some stints in the ruck.
Williams has kicked 15.3 from 15 games this season, and he paid tribute to Jack Darling, Oscar Allen and Jake Waterman for helping him progress.
Darling played his best game of the season last week when he tallied 22 disposals, nine marks and one goal.
