TIM KELLY'S axing is a case of West Coast rewarding the right behaviours and not Andrew McQualter laying down the law as a first-year senior coach.

The All-Australian midfielder and 2023 club best-and-fairest winner has paid the price for his own quiet form and the Eagles' winless start to the season.

He is a big-name omission for Saturday's Adelaide Oval match against Carlton, who are also stuck at the bottom of the ladder with a 0-4 start.

McQualter was asked before Thursday training in Adelaide whether Kelly's omission was a case of the new coach setting standards.

"It's really not about that at all - it's about picking a team who we think is rewarding the right behaviours every week and a team that can win each game of footy," he said.

"We've been really clear with Tim on what's required of him, within his role.

"Tim was really understanding - disappointed, as you'd expect. But we're really supportive of Tim, that he's going to get back to his best footy."

Kelly will instead play in the WAFL on Friday night.

"I'm not going to go into the details, I don't think it's for a public forum. It's really for Tim and our match committee," McQualter said when asked for details on why Kelly had been dropped.

"Tim's really clear on what he has to get to work on."

Earlier this year, Kelly opened up about how his love for the game had suffered during West Coast's horror run of defeats.

Kelly, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has won fewer games in five seasons at West Coast (29) than he did in just two years at Geelong (30) and revealed the difficult period had come at a cost.

"To be honest, for me it's about honing in on what I've got to do, get my body right ... my love of the game hasn't been great over the last couple of years.

"There's a lot of contract talk and this and that but I'm just trying to love the game again. Hopefully that comes.

"It's been a tough few years and I'm not the only one.

"Everyone here has been working really hard and not getting much reward.

"It's been frustrating to say the least but it's got to turn around eventually."

Another high-profile West Coast player in the news this week is young gun Harley Reid after AFL.com.au broke the news of the Eagles putting together multiple long-term offers.

"We clearly want Harley to stay and a be a long-term player," McQualter said.

"Right now, he's invested in our footy club, he's coming to work every day, training to improve. So we just have to keep creating the right environment and encouraging Harley."

Reid showed improved form in last weekend's loss to Greater Western Sydney, spending most of the time across half-back.

"We saw some signs last week that were much better for Harley," McQualter said.

With Jake Waterman set to return to play the Blues, McQualter conceded there is a risk that West Coast might be too top-heavy in attack.

"It's a good question and it's something we're working through," McQualter said.

"We're not certain of where our team is going to land, but we'll keep exploring things."

But he added the big challenge against Carlton will be defending better than they did against the Giants.

"You could have had a few Hall of Fame defenders in our backline last week and they would have struggled. Our focus will be we need to defend better and that's all areas of the ground," McQualter said.

Former Carlton player Matt Owies, who was hurt in a collision with GWS captain Toby Greene, is set to play against his old club.

McQualter said Owies had helped in their opposition meeting to prepare for the Blues.

The Blues are set to regain key forward Harry McKay after he had time off for mental health issues.