WEST Coast coach Adam Simpson has stressed his side hasn't achieved anything yet and wants further improvement in the second half of the year.
The Eagles have been one of the surprise packets of the season so far, winning nine of their first 12 games to sit second on the ladder behind Fremantle.
Their win against Richmond before last week's bye underlined their top-four credentials, but Simpson knows his side is far from a finals certainty.
"We need to improve, no doubt about that," Simpson said.
"We've had some periods where we have been really poor and we are one of those teams, we haven't really achieved anything yet.
"We've had a good little run. I know we are second on the ladder, but there has to be eight teams in the same bracket at the moment. We're two games off ninth.
"So I am not thinking we'll just keep playing the way we are and we'll be OK, no way."
Simpson is preparing his side for a tough seven-game stretch, starting with Melbourne at TIO Stadium on Saturday night.
Following that clash, the Eagles play finals contenders Adelaide, the Sydney Swans, Hawthorn, Fremantle and Collingwood, as well as Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium.
West Coast has never played a home and away match at TIO Stadium, while the Demons have played there five times since 2010.
Conditions in Darwin can often get very slippery at night due to the heat and humidity and Simpson said the Eagles had been preparing with wet balls this week.
"We've been doing that a little bit here and there," Simpson said.
"When it's a night game and wet weather we try to train at night and get the dewy conditions.
"Look, it's probably more of a placebo effect really to get the guys adjusted to it a little bit. We'll train up there tomorrow night, so we'll get a good feel of the ground and humidity. We'll adapt from there."
Simpson was not concerned about any potential let down coming off the bye, but did concede he over-trained his side during last year's break.
"That's the lesson we did learn," Simpson said.
"We put too much into the two weeks. So this week we've balanced it a lot better and we've learnt from last year."
The Eagles have no injury issues to speak of with Will Schofield, Jeremy McGovern, Jamie Cripps and Sam Butler all fit and expected to play against the Demons.
