Changes

During the off season, Talia Radan and Emily Bonser retired, and Kate Bartlett, Cassie Davidson, Emily McGuire, Danika Pisconeri and Tarnee Tester were delisted.^[6][7] Andrea Gilmore was also delisted following a season as an injury replacement player. Tarnee Tester was later signed by Fremantle as a delisted free agent.^[8]

Due to West Coast's poor performance in 2020, before the start of the trade period, West Coast, and Richmond, were given a draft pick at the end of the first round (pick 16). This draft pick had the requirement that it had to be traded with another club for an established player. The pick was allowed to be traded in combination with other draft picks or players, but it could not be used in a trade that involved West Coast receiving any draft picks.^[9] During the 2020 trade period in August, West Coast had two trades. The first had West Coast receive Aisling McCarthy and pick 3 in the 2020 AFL Women's draft from the Western Bulldogs, in exchange for pick 2 and pick 16.^[10] The second had West Coast receive Tayla Bresland from Fremantle, in exchange for pick 46.^[11]

Before the 2020 AFLW, McKenzie Dowrick was placed on the inactive list to allow her more time to recover from surgery.^[12] During the 2020 draft on 6 October, teams were only allowed to pick from a pool of players in their state. West Coast drafted Isabella Lewis (pick 3), Shanae Davison (pick 18), Julie-Anne Norrish (pick 32) and Andrea Gilmore (pick 53), who was previously delisted. They passed on picks 56 and 59.^[13]

If players were undrafted in their nominated state, clubs from outside that state with room on their lists could sign those players. This mechanism enabled West Coast to sign Amber Ward and Lauren Gauci, both of whom are from South Australia, on 8 October.^[14] In November, Demi Liddle was signed as an injury replacement player for Ashton Hill, who ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in round 1 of the previous season.^[15] In January, Katelyn Pope was signed as an injury replacement player for Mhicca Carter, who had a season-ending foot injury.^[16]

Statistics

Rounds 1–4

West Coast's round one match took place against the Adelaide Crows, the reigning premiers, on 30 January 2021. At half time, the Eagles were only behind by five points, as the Crows missed opportunities to score. However, Adelaide dominated the third quarter, kicking four unanswered goals and even preventing any inside 50s for West Coast. The final score was 18–56. This match had eight new players for West Coast, and three players suffered injuries:^[25][26] Brianna Green received an ankle injury, Maddy Collier was concussed and Demi Liddle injured her back.^[20]

Western Australia went into lockdown on 1 February, resulting in South Australia closing its border to Western Australia. West Coast's match against GWS was cancelled as a result, and West Coast were not allowed to train together during the lockdown.^[27] After the lockdown was lifted on 5 February, a Western Derby against Fremantle was scheduled instead for 7 February, albeit with no crowds. The derby meant that the Western Australian teams did not have to leave Western Australia or have another team enter.^[28] During the week between rounds one and two, vice-captain Dana Hooker cut a tendon in her foot when a knife fell off her kitchen bench, ruling her out for the rest of the season. She joined Green, Collier and Liddle as the four outs for round 2.^[20][29][30]

West Coast lost their match against Fremantle 14–23, playing at Fremantle Oval in heavy rain. Aisling McCarthy got the first and only goal in the first quarter, but Fremantle took over from there, reaching 20 points at three quarter time. Imahra Cameron kicked a goal in the final quarter to reduce the margin to 6 points, but Fremantle held off from there, winning by nine points. The result wasn't considered a total failure for West Coast, considering that their previous match against Fremantle was a 45-point blowout, and that Fremantle finished at the top of the ladder in 2020, however, there were several more injuries during the match. Niamh Kelly and Andrea Gilmore suffered finger injuries and Parris Laurie sustained a right knee injury.^[31][32] Katelyn Pope made her AFLW debut in this match.^[20] Daniel Pratt said after the match that West Coast may have to use players from outside their squad to field a team in round three if none of the injured players are able to play.^[33]

The fixture for round three was announced on 8 February. West Coast were scheduled to face Richmond at the Swinburne Centre on 14 February.^[34][35] A COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne caused Western Australia to close its border to Victoria, resulting in the cancellation of West Coast's match against Richmond on 11 February.^[36] The following day, it was announced that West Coast would play Brisbane at Hickey Park on Monday, 15 February.^[37]

During the week between rounds two and three, Claremont WAFLW players Jessica Low and Sasha Goranova trained with West Coast in case the team needed them as top-up players.^[38] West Coast ended up not needing them, with several players back from injury for round three. Maddy Collier returned after completing concussion protocols, Parris Laurie and Andrea Gilmore's injuries were minor enough to allow them to return, and Melissa Caulfield was back for the first time this season following a pre-season hamstring injury.^[39][40] During the first half of their match against the Brisbane Lions, the Eagles dominated the inside 50s and clearances, but because they were unable to convert that into goals, the margin at half time was one point in favour of the Lions. Brisbane dominated for the rest of the match though, including kicking four goals in the first six minutes of the third quarter. The final score was 20–65 in favour of the Lions.^[41][42] Andrea Gilmore suffered another injury, this time a concussion in the third quarter, ruling her out of round four due to the concussion protocol.^[43][44]

The round four fixture was revealed on 14 February, with West Coast facing GWS on Sunday, 21 February at Blacktown International Sportspark Oval.^[45][46] In that match, Alicia Janz made her West Coast debut, and Lauren Gauci made her AFLW debut.^[19] West Coast were beaten yet again in round four, with the final score being 28–48. The Eagles lead for a brief moment in the first quarter, but GWS lead for the rest of the match. The only injury was to Aisling McCarthy, who had a knee injury after landing awkwardly in the third quarter.^[47]

Rounds 5–9

On 21 February, the round five fixture was revealed. West Coast were scheduled to play against fellow winless side Gold Coast, in the Eagles' first home game since round one.^[48][49] The round five match was Niamh Kelly's and Demi Liddle's first match back from injury. Aisling McCarthy was also due to play her first game back, but was a late out due to her knee injury, being replaced by Kate Orme. Sophie McDonald and Courtney Guard were omitted.^[50][51] West Coast got their first win of the season in that round, beating Gold Coast 34–33. Mikayla Bowen stood out, getting 21 disposals, seven marks, three clearances and the match-winning goal.^[52][50] She received a Rising Star nomination for her effort.^[53] Yet another injury occurred, with Tayla Bresland receiving a hamstring injury in the first quarter.^[50]

Between rounds five and six, over a third of West Coast's players were on its injury list.^[54] The round six fixture was revealed on 27 February. West Coast were scheduled to play Fremantle for the second time in a season.^[55][56] Aisling McCarthy made a return from injury in this game. The Eagles were thrashed by Fremantle, which was played at Optus Stadium in front of West Coast's largest crowd for the season. The final score was 8–75, with Grace Kelly scoring the Eagles' only goal.^[57]

The fixture for the remaining rounds was revealed on 4 March. West Coast were scheduled to play against Geelong at home in round seven, Richmond away in round eight, and St Kilda at home in round nine, all on the Sundays of each round.^[58][59] On 9 March, the round seven match against Geelong was changed to Monday, 15 March.^[60] In the match, West Coast had their second win of the season, and largest win in their history, beating Geelong 53–14. Imahra Cameron kicked three goals, a record for the club. Brianna Green was back from injury.^[61] Emma Swanson was reported to the match review panel for rough conduct due to an off-the-ball bump on Geelong's Georgie Rankin which gave Rankin a concussion. Swanson received a two match ban for the incident, causing her to miss the remainder of the season.^[62][63][64]

In round eight, West Coast were beaten by Richmond 34–42, although they almost made a comeback in the fourth quarter. At half time, the margin was 22 points with Richmond in front. The Eagles had kicked no goals in the first half compared to Richmond's three. But West Coast started to catch up during the second half, kicking three third-quarter goals, compared to Richmond with just one. The Eagles managed to get the margin to seven points during the fourth quarter, but Richmond managed to hold off West Coast. Mikayla Bowen and Isabella Lewis were the strongest among the midfield, with 21 and 18 disposals respectively. Lewis received a Rising Star nomination for this effort. West Coast suffered a multitude of injuries in that match, with Aisling McCarthy (corked thigh), Belinda Smith (cork), Shanae Davison (hamstring) and Maddy Collier (concussion) all injured.^[65][66][67]

Collier, McCarthy and Davison were all left out for the final match of the season due to their injuries, joining a large list of key players who could not play. Parris Laurie also suffered an ankle injury just before the start of the match, too late for her to be replaced in the team. West Coast were thrashed by St Kilda, the score being 20–76. West Coast ended the season 12th on the ladder, capping off an injury-plagued season having not qualified for finals.^[68][69]

Results

Ladder