West Coast wingman Hamish Davis says young Eagles taking ownership of new era

West Coast’s brigade of talented youngsters feel like this is their Eagles team now, and they’re not satisfied with just one taste of victory, according to wingman Hamish Davis. Davis was one of 11 Eagles to play in their first win for the club when they defeated North Melbourne by 17 points at Optus Stadium last Sunday. The timely triumph has renewed a sense of hope and optimism that has swept across the supporter base, who have been starved of success in recent years, enjoying only 11 wins in the previous four seasons. Davis — who had an equal career-high 18 touches in the win over the Kangaroos — said the young Eagles now shouldered the responsibility of taking the team forward. “It’s big for us, just to feel what it’s like to win again. It was a great feeling with 11 of us who had our first win for the club. It just makes us want to do it more often, so I am looking forward to the next few weeks,” Davis said. “We’re such a young group, we have to drive the standards ... lots of us had our first win and lots of us are feeling the same way. “We’re going to keep driving the standards, we know how much the older boys do for us, the experience they provide, and the standards they set as well.” West Coast coach Andrew McQualter made it known last year that they would do everything they could over the summer to learn to win again after only one success in 2025. Davis said an improvement in not only their fundamentals, but also the work on scenario training had been pivotal in their progress. “I don’t think there’s any better teaching than actually doing it (winning), so that was crucial for us to do that last week,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of scenario training throughout the pre-season, so that definitely helped, and I feel like we’re better equipped this year to handle those late-game scenarios. “Being such a young group, any experience we have in games and in training is going to help us a lot.” After celebrating their much-needed victory, the Eagles quickly turned their attention to not only taking on Port Adelaide but also ensuring complacency didn’t creep into the clash at Adelaide Oval on Sunday. “I don’t think we’re getting carried away. We were far away from playing the perfect game last week,” Davis said. “We took learnings away from the game, there’s still plenty of room for growth, and hopefully we can keep getting better each week. “They touched us up a few weeks ago, we’ve learnt plenty from that game. Their pressure was elite that game, and they’re good around the contest, so we’re going to have to bring the pressure ourselves to handle their heat.” West Coast’s rebuild is one of the most extensive in recent AFL history. They have brought in 24 new players over the past two years as they look to end their finals drought and usher in a new era. Davis said the work the players were doing away from football to create relationships was just as important as the football. “We’re enjoying each other’s company off the field, which I think is important in building a strong culture,” he said. “We go on the road every second week, and if those relationships are going to keep building and getting stronger, and then it’s going to help us on the field. “I feel like there’s a strong correlation between building relationships off the field and then translating that onto the field.”