IT TOOK most of the season to become obvious, but West Coast has finally made the game-style shift it planned at the start of the season and ensured its horror 2022 hasn't been completely wasted.

The Eagles intended to implement a new game style early this season, moving away from the controlled possession of previous years and becoming more aggressive both with their ball movement and their pressure.

Coach Adam Simpson has conceded at different stages that an unprecedented run of injuries has prevented the team from committing to a new style, but that has changed in the past month.

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West Coast has gone from the 15th-ranked side for pressure factor in the first 17 rounds to No.1 between rounds 18 and 22, ranking No.2 for tackle differential in that period (+13.6 a game).

The wins haven't flowed, but the improved effort has been noticeable, with the round 22 Western Derby turned into a slugfest largely thanks to the Eagles' focus on applying pressure when they didn't have the ball.

Champion Data's pressure factor stat, which is used by clubs as a key indicator, measures the pressure points accrued by a team – through acts like chasing, corralling and tackling – for every chance they have to apply pressure.

The Eagles won the pressure factor against Fremantle for the opening three quarters, and overall for the match, in one of their better pressure games for the season.

Captain Luke Shuey led the way with 70 pressure points – his second highest return this season – followed by young midfielder Xavier O'Neill (66), who laid a career-best 11 tackles.

Jackson Nelson, who executed a run-with job on Andrew Brayshaw, had 56 pressure points in his best return since 2016.   

Highlighting the trend now in place at West Coast, four of the team's top five quarters this season for pressure factor have come in the past five weeks.

The outlier is the Eagles' fourth quarter against Adelaide in round 12, which remains their season-high with a rating of 2.35.

Their worst quarter was against Essendon in round 15, recording a rating of 1.51 in the third term, with their bottom five quarters all coming in the round 1-17 period.

The way it has changed West Coast's game in the past month is evident in the stoppages they are forcing, particularly in the front half, and what they are doing with them.

Rather than allowing easy opposition clearances (they ranked No.18 in the AFL from rounds 1-17 for opposition clearance rate), they are locking the ball back in with pressure and forcing secondary stoppages.

For overall stoppages, they have gone from No.14 in the AFL from rounds 1-17 up to No.2 in the past five weeks. For secondary stoppages, they have gone from No.14 to No.1.

Perhaps most importantly, they have turned forward-half stoppages into a scoring source, moving from last in the AFL in the opening 17 rounds to No.8 for scores from that important source.

As Eagles fans have sifted through the 2022 wreckage, they have been right to ask what the team has been doing to make 2023 a better season.

Exposing younger players has been an obvious benefit of the injury issues, but finding a new identity appears to have been just as important.

While not winning, the Eagles have at least played a game style in the past month that better reflects what the best teams are doing and got a head start on 2023.