West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter expects players to come back firing for pre-season

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has put the onus on his players to return fit and ready to improve come day one of pre-season, with the club’s 2026 campaign ending this Sunday.

If the Eagles lose to the top-four Hawks on Sunday evening, they will finish their season on an 11-game losing streak, much of the promise from their four wins in the first half of the year evaporated.

It leaves the club searching for answers again as they continue their comprehensive rebuild, and McQualter already has one eye on finding them ahead of next season, making it clear what he expects from the players.

“Their job’s to have a mental spell, a little bit of a physical spell, but then as full-time professional athletes, they’ve got to get to work and improve themselves physically and mentally,” he told 7NEWS.

“Our pre-seasons become shorter and shorter, so when we start day one on November 2, expectation is they’re in great shape, ready to improve.”

The Eagles will also need to get ruthless with their list, 51 players currently on the bill.

However, McQualter said those decisions would likely wait until after the fate of the club’s WAFL side, which can make finals with a victory against Claremont on Saturday, was known.

“Our WAFL team is right in contention to play finals if they win this weekend, so it will depend on when that team finishes up, but that will happen over the next few weeks, I imagine,” he said.

As for what the Eagles would do recruiting-wise, McQualter kept tight-lipped, as he did throughout his first off-season with the Eagles, which saw Brandon Starcevich join the club while Oscar Allen departed.

“Get the best players in the comp to come and play for us,” he said simply.

“We’ll be pretty aggressive in all forms trying to improve our list as we were last year. We’re clearly in a position where we need to get better.

“We know that, and we know the path we’re on, and we’ll continue to try and find players and people that can help with that.”

West Coast are believed to have reached out to dual Brownlow medallist and Brisbane premiership player Lachie Neale to express interest in his services, while retiring Tiger Nathan Broad, who is heading back to his native Western Australia regardless, could take a coaching role with the Eagles.