Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell has accused West Coast of displaying “serious mental weakness” at day one of pre-season training, slamming the players’ body language.
The Eagles first-to-four-year players hit the track on Monday and were immediately put to the test, completing 11x200m sprints at the start of the session.
After pushing themselves to the limit, several players collapsed in the goal square to recover.
They were only there briefly but it didn’t stop Mitchell from lambasting the Eagles.
“This image is utterly embarrassing for the West Coast Eagles on day one of pre-season,” Mitchell said in a short clip posted to social media on Tuesday.
“Look at the body language. From all reports, they’ve just done their first running test, 11x200m sprints, which I’ve done that test before. It’s bloody hard.
“Don’t get me wrong, AFL pre-seasons are one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. But look at the body language there.
“To the far left there, there’s a player on his haunches. Just to his right, a player lying on his back. Below us here, four players on their hands and knees and another player below on his back.
“That is serious mental weakness. There’s no leadership there. Thank god they got Jack Viney to stamp out some of this crap.
“I could not be more passionate about this. They’re basically showing all of the opposition out there already that as soon as it gets hard, we’re going to roll on the ground and act like we’re dying.
“This is an embarrassing image.”
Mitchell, who played 207 games across Sydney, Hawthorn and Collingwood, said the best teams had strict rules around body language.
“This is West Coast in this example,” he said.
“You see this often with a lot of teams around the league. The best teams I played on had rules around this, not showing weakness.
“You’re allowed to forget at times and go to your hands and knees. But get straight up. This is embarrassing for the Eagles on day one of pre-season.”
The Eagles have been contacted for comment.