WEST Coast had its pride dented but not its confidence in a horror 2022, according to captain Luke Shuey, with the club hopeful it can bounce back in a significant way this season.
Buoyed by a fitter playing group and close to full availability as 42 of 44 players take part in pre-season training, the Eagles have moved on from their worst season on record.
With a mix of young talent and established stars still on the list, Shuey said the rebuilding team took encouragement from the rapid recoveries made by Sydney and Collingwood in recent years.
The Swans jumped from 16th in 2020 to finish sixth the following year, while the Magpies' remarkable 2022 saw the club jump from 17th to fourth, losing a preliminary final by just one point.
"You've always got to have high expectations as a footy club, otherwise you lose sight of where you want to get to," Shuey said on Wednesday after being appointed as captain for a fourth season.
"We want to win games of footy again. We only did that twice last year and it was disappointing for different reasons.
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"What is probably more relatable to us is the turnarounds that Sydney and Collingwood have had over the last few years.
"The way the game is played these days and with competition equality, if you get things right you can turn it around quickly, so we're hopeful we can do that as well."
After playing finals for six consecutive seasons and then finishing ninth in 2021, Shuey said last year's two-win season, which was the club's worst on record, presented a rollercoaster of emotions.
The 32-year-old was hopeful, however, that it would prove a good grounding for the young players the club hopes can now drive it through a successful rebuild.
"I think we're confident we can bounce back, but the pride took a bit of a hit for us individually [and] for us as a footy club as well," he said.
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"For different reasons we weren't competitive last year, and that was a rollercoaster of emotions at different times – embarrassing, disappointing, angry, frustrated.
"For some of these young boys coming through, there was no harsher introduction than last year, but they'll learn from that and they'll play plenty of footy for the footy club over the years to come.
"It's a similar start that some of us had in 2009-10 when we copped the wooden spoon. I guess it's a blessing in disguise if you get exposed to that at a young age."
The Eagles returned to training noticeably fitter after the off-season and have enjoyed good numbers on the track, with only young ruckman Harry Barnett training away from the main group in all sessions.
Shuey said there had been a focus on the players returning to training in better shape after the group's physical preparation was not up to scratch in 2022 for a variety of reasons.
"When there's smoke there's fire and a lot of people externally were calling us unfit last year. They probably weren't completely off the mark with that suggestion," the Norm Smith medallist said.
"You can't do anything unless you're fit in this game anymore, so our first step over the off-season was making sure we came back in good shape.
"Our strength and conditioning staff did a hell of a job putting together a program that was different to years gone by, and the playing group was certainly more driven.
"There were more numbers training together each week and it was a really enjoyable off-season. There's plenty of hard work to do still, but I think we've started the year off on the right foot."