Liam Duggan and Liam Baker will lead the West Coast Eagles as co\u2011captains for the 2026 AFL season, with the club confirming a seven player leadership group on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Duggan enters his third season as co\u2011captain, while Baker steps into the role after a superb debut season in blue and gold, highlighted by his John Worsfold Medal win.<\/p>\n
His elevation to captaincy caps a remarkable first year and reflects the strong trajectory he is carving at the club.<\/p>\n
Baker said the appointment came with a few nerves but plenty of excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time for the club and myself,” Baker said.<\/p>\n
“To be joining \u2018Duggo\u2019 for the season is very exciting and I\u2019m looking forward to a good 2026.”<\/p>\n
Having arrived amid the club\u2019s transition, Baker said he felt energised by its direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we ticked a lot of boxes last year and are getting ready for the future,” Baker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a very young list, but there have been a lot of good signs. I\u2019m loving my time at West Coast so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baker said Duggan\u2019s consistency and care were key reasons he was eager to lead alongside him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis care for the whole group, for the footy club, his passion stands out,” Baker said.<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s been through some hard yards and some great times as well and I know he\u2019s excited about the future of the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Duggan, the honour remains as meaningful as ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge honour,\u201d Duggan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo feel the backing of the boys is great, and being able to do it with \u2018Bakes\u2019 is a really great opportunity for us.”<\/p>\n
Duggan further praised Baker\u2019s immediate impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis on\u2011field performance last year and his standards on the training track have been second to none,\u201d Duggan said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very different leaders, which I think will be great moving forward, and to share the load with \u2018Bakes\u2019 is a great appointment for the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joining the co\u2011captains in the 2026 leadership group are returning members Jake Waterman and Jack Graham, along with three new additions in Reuben Ginbey, Matt Flynn and new recruit Brandon Starcevich.<\/p>\n
Duggan said the group brought an exciting blend of youth, experience and diverse strengths.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really diverse group, which I\u2019m excited about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both captains praised Ginbey\u2019s elevation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe speaks so well and the way he plays, he wears his heart on his sleeve,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to be a great leader in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duggan was also full of praise for the star defender.<\/p>\n
\u201cReuben is lighting the track up, doing everything asked and more, I can\u2019t wait to see him transition that into games,\u201d Duggan said.<\/p>\n
Flynn\u2019s leadership has been recognised formally after ongoing influence behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s (Flynn) been part of leading the team unofficially,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s such a great leader with all the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having built a close relationship with Flynn over the last few years, Duggan backed Flynn\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a big fan of \u2018Flynny\u2019 for a long time,\u201d Duggan said.<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s been a great sounding board for me throughout the last couple of years and I\u2019m really excited for him to get the opportunity to have that formal title.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starcevich rounds out the group following his arrival from Brisbane, already making an impact with his defensive knowledge and communication.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019Starce\u2019 brings a wealth of experience and a lot of success,\u201d Duggan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be great to lean on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the Eagles enter their 40th year, both co\u2011captains believe the foundations are strong for continued improvement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still need to keep working hard,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to what we can do this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duggan said the leadership group was ready to drive standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a big group, we\u2019re a big club. Leading together, I think we can take the group in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liam Duggan and Liam Baker will lead the West Coast Eagles as co\u2011captains for the 2026 AFL season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-448480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448480","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=448480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}