SHARROD Wellingham looked stunned in the West Coast rooms on Sunday night as he absorbed what he described as a 'slap in the face' from North Melbourne.
Wellingham had just 14 touches in his side's 38-point loss to the Kangaroos. It was the Collingwood premiership player's third game back after being dropped to the WAFL for the Western Derby in round seven.
The 25-year-old said both he and his teammates received 'a bit of a wake-up call' in Sunday's loss and needed to have a good hard look at all facets of their game.
"Before tonight we felt like we were building," Wellingham told AFL.com.au after the match.
"I think we've got to be harder on ourselves during the week and during a game.
"We just need to reflect on where we think we're at, whether we think we're doing everything right on a weekday leading into a game, what we need to do, if we can improve, are we getting the best out of ourselves and just not coasting along."
It was more soul-searching from Wellingham who revealed on Perth radio during the week that laziness had led to his earlier axing and said he needed to concentrate and work harder during games.
Wellingham believed he had been guilty of the same issue against North Melbourne.
"It felt like we just weren't able to get into the game for most of it and that's probably the way I felt individually," Wellingham said.
“[I was] just unable to really get into the groove of the game which is a process that you've got to learn to deal with and move through it and get into the game as quickly as possible."
The Eagles need to bounce back sharply given the brutal set of matches that confront them. They face Hawthorn, Gold Coast, St Kilda, Fremantle and the Sydney Swans over the next five weeks.
Wellingham is bullish about the Eagles' prospects starting with the Hawks in Launceston next Saturday.
"We love getting together and going away," Wellingham said.
"If we can regroup throughout the week and have a good training week, the Hawks are ripe for the picking.
"We've just got to focus on that as quickly as possible, take what we can out of the performance tonight and really attack the game."
