\n Willem Duursma, Cooper Duff-Tytler and Josh Lindsay spoke to the media following their first day of training\n <\/p>\n
\n By westcoasteagles.com.au\n <\/p>\n
West Coast\u2019s newest recruits have landed in Perth and hit the track for the first time, marking the beginning of an exciting chapter for the club and fans.<\/p>\n
Number one draft pick Willem Duursma admitted the reality of being an AFL player started to sink in the moment he stepped onto the track at Mineral Resources Park.<\/p>\n
While the spotlight often shines brightest on the top pick, Duursma is taking a grounded approach to the attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was chatting with Harley Reid last night, his advice was to take it day by day and don\u2019t even think about it,\u201d Duursma said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you\u2019re at the club and with the players, you\u2019re just another number so it feels pretty natural and normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duursma has already identified senior players he wants to learn from, including Liam Baker and Reuben Ginbey.<\/p>\n
\u201cBaker sets an elite standard and Ginbey\u2019s always doing extras. Learning from those two will be huge for me,\u201d Duursma said.<\/p>\n
For Cooper Duff-Tytler, the excitement of joining West Coast was amplified by the chance to work with one of the club\u2019s most iconic figures.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the coaches told me Nic Naitanui was going to be doing some work with us, I was definitely very excited,\u201d Duff-Tytler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure I\u2019ll learn so much from him over the pre-season.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 200cm ruck made the switch from basketball to football last year, noting his mobility and follow-up work as his biggest strengths, and he\u2019s eager to show them off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re all itching to get into the full ground drills and show what we can do because that\u2019s what you\u2019re here for,\u201d Duff-Tytler said.<\/p>\n
Settling into Perth has been smooth thanks to the support of teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m staying at Matt Flynn\u2019s house and he\u2019s been unreal,\u201d Duff-Tytler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the boys have been great today and welcomed us in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pick 19 Josh Lindsay might have flown under the radar compared to his fellow draftees, but he boasts a lethal left foot and is determined to make an impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, whatever number it is, I\u2019m just fortunate enough to be at such a great club,\u201d Lindsay said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll work as hard as I can and back myself to play my best footy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI pride myself on (my kicking) and just want to help the team as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Geelong product has already moved in with teammate Liam Baker before joining Jack Graham later this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big move leaving family behind, but they\u2019ve been super supportive,\u201d Lindsay said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to get started over here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsay also paid tribute to former mentor Troy Selwood, who played a pivotal role in his development.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always had the belief that I was good enough,\u201d Lindsay said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he passed away earlier this year, it was a huge shock, but I want to carry on his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Willem Duursma, Cooper Duff-Tytler and Josh Lindsay spoke to the media following their first day of training By…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,83,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-317329","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-text","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}