![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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The Eagles claimed their second consecutive scalp on Sunday afternoon after overturning a 29-point second-quarter deficit to beat Port Adelaide in hostile territory, with young guns passing the mettle test with flying colours. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just think the group\u2019s resilience is starting to shine through,\u201d coach Andrew McQualter said post-match. <\/p>\n
\u201cYoung players \u2014 young and old players \u2014 stood up in huge moments and all through the second half, the last five minutes of the game. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s probably the most pleasing thing from my (point of view) \u2026 It\u2019s shown a growing maturity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Willem Duursma notched 20 disposals, seven score involvements and a goal \u2014 looking more and more like the No.1 pick he was last November \u2014 while Harley Reid, the first overall selection in 2023, starred with two goals from 21 possessions and nine score involvements. <\/p>\n
Jobe Shanahan, meanwhile, took four intercept marks and seven in total, including a sensational pack mark in the dying stages that helped seal the two-point win. <\/p>\n
King, who affectionately dubbed Duursma the \u201cSlight Delight\u201d, said the rangy midfielder needed to be deployed in the guts as soon as possible, adding that he and Reid \u201cfeed off each other\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI loved his game. Seven score involvements as a wingman is a great sign. Get him in the middle. Get him in that high-volume section of the ground, and let him go to work,\u201d King said on Fox Footy\u2019s First Crack. <\/p>\n
McQualter praises young sides growth | 07:39<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s fine. He\u2019s as tough as tough \u2026 the guns go in the middle. Max Holmes is the model – not necessarily the bigger guy, but clearly they\u2019re going to get stronger as they go. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be running the risk on just seeing what you\u2019ve got there for a while, and risking the injury status. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think they feed off each other. Reid and Duursma say \u2018hey, let\u2019s go, let\u2019s engage in the fight\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna identified the way the Eagles were \u201cbuying in\u201d to McQualter\u2019s system. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are committed. They\u2019re all in,\u201d he said on Sunday night. <\/p>\n
\u201cHarley Reid\u2019s leadership has gone (up) a level. We know he\u2019s still going to get involved in the niggle – that\u2019s him – but the way that he plays, and the leadership he\u2019s showing and the maturity I really like.\u201d<\/p>\n
King added: \u201cThey\u2019ve become a really watchable team, now, West Coast. Just enjoy the fact that they\u2019re on \u2026 they are becoming box office, the Eagles, and these kids are very entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n
And uncomfortably for rival rebuilding sides, the Eagles might have already surpassed a few this season. <\/p>\n
King floated: \u201cWhich teams have West Coast already challenged to be on par, or going past, through the rebuild phase? \u2026 I think the high-end picks (Reid and Duursma) have given them high-end capabilities. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think you\u2019re looking at Essendon and saying, \u2018Okay, who would you rather be?\u2019 Are you looking at Carlton?\u201d<\/p>\n
Montagna said: \u201cEssendon and Carlton are the two, because they just don\u2019t have the high-end, real quality. I know Essendon has got Caddy \u2014 that\u2019s probably the only one at the moment \u2014 and same with Carlton; they\u2019ve got Jagga Smith, but you need a few more, and I think West Coast is ahead in that facet. <\/p>\n
\u201cNorth Melbourne should still be ahead, because they have all the top-end talent, and Richmond are 12 months ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the side the Eagles overran on Sunday, Port Adelaide, Montagna said West Coast was \u201cprobably\u201d in front of the Power, particularly if Zak Butters departs at year\u2019s end, while King said: \u201cI\u2019m worried about Port. I\u2019m worried about that list.\u201d<\/p>\n
West Coast\u2019s next challenge comes in the form of Sydney, off its first bye, back at home in Round 4. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After two wins from three games to start the year, it\u2019s becoming clear that West Coast\u2019s rise back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8406,63,689,5604,3239,50272,281208,1818,1127,43,281210,222663,3489,12137,191314,44,677,165500,6082,281205,281209,2528,281207,281211,1820,281206,1124,41,39,52623,42,40,7067,19121,29646],"class_list":["post-573087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-andrew-mcqualter","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-box-office","tag-carlton-blues","tag-coast-eagles","tag-crack-analysis","tag-david-king","tag-fox-footy","tag-headlines","tag-hostile-territory","tag-injury-status","tag-jagga-smith","tag-max-holmes","tag-multiple-rival-clubs","tag-news","tag-oceania","tag-pleasing-thing","tag-port-adelaide","tag-real-quality","tag-rebuild-phase","tag-rival-clubs","tag-rival-rebuilding","tag-rival-rebuilding-sides","tag-score-involvements","tag-second-quarter-deficit","tag-south-australia","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-top-end-talent","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-west-coast-eagles","tag-young-players","tag-young-stars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573087","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=573087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}