West Coast are renowned for ruling the roost in West Australian football, but their AFLW side know they will probably be playing the role of “little sister” for at least another year.
The Eagles’ AFLW side endured a debut season to forget in 2020, finishing last in conference B with a 1-5 record.
West Coast’s plight was summed up by their total score for the season – a mere 85 points across six games.
The Eagles are among the wooden spoon fancies again this year, despite the addition of former Bulldogs midfielder Aisling McCarthy.
The story is different for their cross-town rivals Fremantle, who were unbeaten last year and are again tipped to be one of the main challengers for the flag.
The Dockers crushed West Coast by 45 points in last year’s AFLW western derby, and will start as heavy favourites when the teams meet again on February 20.
Fremantle having the wood over West Coast is a rare thing, given the Eagles hold a 31-20 record over their fierce rivals in the men’s game.
The Dockers’ AFL side was touted as the ‘little brothers’ during their formative years, with nine straight western derby losses cementing the dynamic.
West Coast’s AFLW side is now going through that early pain of being the minnows in a two-team town, but captain Emma Swanson hopes it won’t be for long.
“For maybe a little while, we’re going to be like the little sisters of Western Australia,” Swanson said.
“But we all know that eventually the little sisters get bigger.”
West Coast’s campaign gets underway on Saturday when they host Adelaide at Mineral Resources Park in Lathlain.
Swanson says she hasn’t paid attention to the dire predictions about West Coast for 2021.
“I don’t look at the betting markets. I think externally it doesn’t really bother us too much,” she said.
“We’ve done a lot of work this year internally on our belief in each other, and 14 or 15 of our players from our list have now got their first year under their belt, and they know what to expect.”
Daniel Pratt is West Coast’s new coach after Luke Dwyer stepped down in September.
Pratt says he wants to turn West Coast into a competitive unit this year and improve on the one-win return from 2020.
