West Coast Eagles coach Daisy Pearce has vowed her team will not allow complacency to simmer after their first victory of the AFLW season as they prepare for a winless St Kilda side.
And after their morale-boosting upset win over Brisbane, West Coast could receive a boost with Pearce hopeful young gun Jess Rentsch would mark her return from a foot injury with a season debut against the Saints.
If a week is a long time in sport, the first month of the season may have felt like an age to West Coast after an opening four-game winless stanza sapped pre-season enthusiasm around the team’s finals aspirations.
But despite their five-point surprise win over last year’s beaten grand finalists Brisbane on the weekend, Pearce said the Eagles would not be revelling too much as they looked to build some upward momentum when they face St Kilda at RSEA Park on Sunday.
“Winning’s hard for anyone so there’s no denying that was a good feeling, but to be honest the group has had a great mindset towards turning up and getting back to work after all our games so far this season, and navigated the challenges we’ve had really well,” Pearce said.
“I expect, and what I’ve seen this week, is they’re the same group this week, and they want to come in and talk about the things we did well and learn from those what’s working for us, but get after the things that we need to keep improving on to make sure that we become a consistent team.
“That’s something that we’ve tried to instil in the group for a long time, not just in response to the start to this season — sticking to your process, and after a win or loss, the goal is always improving and making progress.”
Pearce admitted West Coast had missed the versatile Rentsch to start the season and they would welcome her presence in the side should she show positive signs at their main training session on Wednesday.
“We know the competitor that she is. She’s worked really hard in her rehab. She put together a really strong session on Saturday morning before the AFLW game, so she’s heading in the right direction,” she said.
“Her versatility and the competitiveness she brings week in, week out, we’ve really missed her. Her ability to play on a variety of opponents is something that is a luxury to have.
“You can put her on the opposition’s best small or their best tall, and she’ll give you everything she’s got.”
Pearce was hopeful Abigail Bushby would only miss a week with an adductor issue but said they would be cautious with ruck Liz McGrath, who is returning from a hamstring injury.
“We know how hard Liz works. If she gets through (Wednesday training), her rehab would have her on managed minutes, so it’ll be weighing up that decision,” Pearce said.
West Coast will stay in Melbourne after the clash with the Saints ahead of their away game against Essendon the following Friday, and Pearce said minimising travel had been a positive tactic when employed in years previous.
“We’ve done this the last couple of years, back-to-back Melbourne games to take out one week’s travel and take the opportunity to spend some time together as a group,” she said.
“They’ve done it well in the past, that balance between keeping things normal, keeping performance and two hours of gameplay on the bookends of the week as as our priority.
“But we’ll definitely take the opportunity and embrace the time spent together and the chance to get out of the routine a little bit.”
