A SIMPLE goal for West Coast to beat its 2024 average for pressure over the past fortnight has seen a clear trait emerge under coach Jarrad Schofield as the caretaker stamps his own philosophies on the team and builds momentum as a contender for the permanent role. 

The Eagles produced their best pressure performance of the season against Gold Coast, as co-captain Liam Duggan, gun midfielder Elliot Yeo and young star Harley Reid set the standard with relentless performances that drove a 10-point win. 

High pressure was a trait of Schofield's premiership-winning Subiaco teams, and it has been the biggest shift in the Eagles' game since he took over from Adam Simpson before round 18.

The team had an average pressure rating of 174 (No.17 in the AFL) under Simpson this season, but that has since lifted to 183 (No.8) under Schofield and delivered three competitive performances in a month and snapped a nine-game losing run. 

The win against Gold Coast on Friday night saw the Eagles come home with a season-high pressure-rating of 211 in the fourth quarter, giving players confidence in a brand that could trouble North Melbourne in Hobart if it can be replicated for a third week running. 

"It's a demanding way to play the game, but if you don't deliver on that it doesn't matter who you're playing, you fall short," Schofield said this week. 

"There's technique to it when you're tackling, but it's a mindset and it's an attitude, and that's what I've been super impressed with from the players, how they've really brought into that. In last week's game we had 23 players all have moments to do that, and some of the reviewing was really positive. 

"When you have 23 players doing it, it's easy to see, but when you have half a team doing that, then that's when you're vulnerable. The last two games that we've played, we've seen larger numbers in our side all sharing the load in that space." 

The Eagles have ticked off the goal of beating their season average of 176 for the past two matches, recording a rating of 187 against Fremantle (ranked No.4 for the season) and 196 against the Suns (No.1). 

Reid and Yeo have been the constants in those two matches – and this season – but the lift has been made possible by a complete buy-in across the board. 

Pressure was set out as a target for the Eagles at the start of the season and a pillar in how they wanted to play as they launched a rebuild, alongside being strong in the contest and playing the game in their front half. 

They delivered on it for patches early in the season, but Schofield's ability to realign the group in the past fortnight has seen him emerge as a leading candidate to win the permanent role as the Eagles undertake a national coach search. 

He has so far held "casual chats" with chief executive Don Pyke and general manager of football Gavin Bell while putting his full focus into coaching the team in the final three rounds. 

Co-captain Duggan this week used a regular radio appearance to endorse the triple premiership-winning WAFL coach to take on a senior role at AFL level. 

"Working with 'Schoey' as the head coach for the last few weeks, he's been superb," Duggan told Triple M Perth. 

"He hasn't reinvented the wheel for us, but he's put his own spin on things over the first few weeks as well that the boys are sort of like, 'Oh, this is refreshing' and I think he's getting a response from the boys. 

"Whether it is with us or somewhere else, I think he's got head coach potential written all over him. I definitely wouldn't be shocked [if he won the permanent role]. 

"The boys are getting along with him really well. He seems to have tweaked a few things and you can see that sort of momentum building."

As well as pressure, there has been a noticeable shift in the Eagles' aggressive approach and attack on the ball, winning the contested battle 140-122 against the Suns. 

Schofield said winning the hard ball and being physical were also a product of mindset, but he didn't expect the same from every player. 

"My simple message is I don't expect Tyrell Dewar to be an Elliot Yeo, but what I expect is when it's your turn to deliver, whether it's through pressure or through the contest, you be reliable," he said. 

"And you've got to back players in because everyone's got different skill sets. 

"We saw last week that we can be aggressive and when you get that feeling of what it feels like to apply pressure and fill the contest, you feel like you belong in that space and we've done that over the last four or five weeks.

"After the St Kilda game, we had some real accountability and ownership as individuals, as coaches, as a team and as a club, that we've got to make a stand and we've got to keep progressing forward."