BRAD Sheppard hasn't stopped dreaming about premiership glory since last year's heartbreak, and insists his West Coast teammates are still hungry for more success.
The Eagles face a tough road to snare back-to-back flags after slipping to fifth following a disastrous home loss to Hawthorn in the final round of the season.
Sheppard in action against the Hawks. Picture: AFL Photos
Some questioned after that 38-point defeat whether there is collective will amongst Adam Simpson's troops to climb the mountain again.
But there is no doubting Sheppard's desire, nearly 12 months after the reliable defender ripped his hamstring in the qualifying final, ending his run of 95 consecutive games and leaving his premiership hopes in tatters.
"I've been dreaming all year," Sheppard told AFL.com.au.
"I've been dreaming since I was five years of age. Never stop dreaming. It's great to be able to be in a position to play finals football again.
"It didn't pan out the way I wanted it to last year in terms of injuries, but really excited about running out Thursday week against a quality (Essendon) outfit and then take it from there.
"Anything is possible. We've seen that over the last four or five years.
"Really excited about the challenge that presents itself."
One of the indelible Grand Final images was Sheppard standing alongside devastated midfielder Andrew Gaff, ruckman Nic Naitanui and full-back Eric Mackenzie as their teammates celebrated on the MCG.
Mackenzie's painful feet issues forced him into retirement, but the other three Eagles stars are set to face the Bombers in an elimination final and craving their shot at the ultimate.
The Eagles that missed out on premiership glory. Picture: AFL Photos
"There's a lot of blokes who haven't experienced that premiership success. Yeah, I'm one of them and there's a couple of senior boys (as well)," Sheppard said.
"Speaking to the boys who won it last year, they want it probably more this year than they did last year.
I think the hunger is there. - Brad Sheppard
Naitanui trained for nearly two hours on Friday, jumping onto the padded bag at centre bounces and appearing untroubled seven weeks after a syndesmosis injury threatened to end his season.
The talismanic big man is West Coast's X-factor this September, having missed the past three finals campaigns due to two knee reconstructions.
Naitanui's last finals appearance was the ill-fated decider against Hawthorn in 2015.
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Many have written the Eagles' flag hopes off since they lost their grip on a finals double chance.
No non-Victorian team has made the Grand Final from outside the top four under the current finals system.
But Sheppard, who was "rapt" to receive recognition in this year's 40-man Virgin Australia AFL All Australian squad, believed West Coast was up for the challenge.
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"We've had a good body of work to look back on and we've played some great footy throughout the course of the year," he said.
"Yeah, the last couple of weeks haven't gone to plan, but we're pretty confident, and individuals should be confident their best will hold up.
"The majority of this playing group has been in big finals games before and over the last couple of years.
"We've had experience and hopefully they can draw on that."
