ANDREW Gaff is putting a positive spin on West Coast's horror pre-season loss to Fremantle, believing it was a timely "wake-up call" ahead of a tough round one clash with Sydney.
The Eagles brought a raft of senior players into their line-up for the JLT Community Series hit-out but were hammered by 62 points.
West Coast's engine room, in particular, was obliterated with key members Luke Shuey, Jack Redden, Dom Sheed, Elliot Yeo and Gaff all below their best in the final warm-up before taking on the powerhouse Swans onball division.
"It was a bit of a wake-up call. We played really well against a (near) full-strength Port team and to be smacked by Freo was disappointing," Gaff told AFL.com.au after filling-in for Shannon Hurn (back tightness) at Captains Day.
"But it puts us in a good situation where we know we've got to be at our absolute best, especially against a quality team like Sydney, we know we need to play really well to beat them.
"There's plenty of learnings to come out of it.
"All in all we've had a good pre-season and hopefully it's just a blip on the radar.
"Individually, I don't think we've had too many worse games. Everyone really.
"It was one of those games where everything went wrong and hopefully that's the only one for the year."
The Eagles are planning an intense training session on Friday as they ramp up preparations for the blockbuster opening to Optus Stadium on March 25.
"There will be a lot of contact, a lot of tackling and physical stuff," Gaff said.
"We're not going to ease our way into the year. We've got the weekend off and some match play tomorrow will hopefully put is in good stead for a quality Sydney side."
West Coast has a major focus on improving contested ball and clearance work, which should be boosted by Nic Naitanui's imminent comeback.
"I think (his influence will be) huge. There's no secret that before his injury how good we were and he makes the midfield look even better," Gaff said.
"Hopefully with his dominance in the air and around the ground it's going to help us mids."
While Gaff is preparing to shoulder more leadership responsibility following Matt Priddis and Sam Mitchell's retirements, the star Victorian wingman is also weighing up his future.
The 25-year-old is due to become a restricted free agent at season's end and is unlikely to make a decision whether to extend his contract before mid-year.
"Most of the ones I've done are towards the second half of the year," Gaff said.
"You talk to different players (for advice). Everyone's situation is a little different but you have people you talk to about these things and it's obviously a big decision."
