WEST Coast AFLW coach Daisy Pearce shapes as an ideal sounding board for AFL counterpart Andrew McQualter ahead of a critical offseason for the men's team as the pair look to strengthen their working relationship and make each other better.

Pearce is preparing to embark on her second NAB AFLW season as coach after leading the Eagles to four wins in 2024, while McQualter is closing out his first year in charge of a similarly young and building squad.

Both said they were looking forward to having more crossover as they look to guide their teams back up the ladder, having shared similar philosophies on the game and coaching. 

"I can't wait for our season first, but then to continue to build that relationship with 'Mini' in my next offseason so that I can develop myself, help out however I can, and just keep bringing our programs closer and closer together," Pearce said on Thursday.

"The beauty of West Coast and this facility is you can share and you can organically spend time together.

"Everywhere else I've been, you had to intentionally avoid each other's programs to be able to make it work, because there's one oval and one facility.

"We can have a main training session on the same day and stagger our schedules slightly and both be here. So that allows for hallway conversations and crossover, which is great."

McQualter is one preseason behind Pearce in his coaching tenure and said working with his counterpart to learn about that critical phase leading into a second season was on his agenda. 

"From my point of view, Daisy has finished her first year now added a second preseason and I will really look to use 'Dais' as a resource for what she learned over that period," McQualter said.

"It's a really critical point for me coming up as well, so if we can share some experiences there, I'll be certainly looking at 'Dais' to try and learn something from what she was able to do this offseason and preseason."

Pearce said the focus for her AFLW team had been implementing team defence after as focus on belief and belonging during her first year, which came after a 2-8 season and 17th place finish in 2023.

The new defensive focus has been evident for periods during intraclub games and a practice match against Fremantle, with the challenge now to bring it to life in the opening game of the season against Gold Coast on August 14 at Sullivan Logistics Stadium.

"We were a very effort-based, one-on-one defence, whereas we've put a bit of work into the way that we defend as a team not just to stop goals but so that we win it back," Pearce said.

"We're in better areas of the ground and we can score back the other way, so that was pleasing to see that come to life for probably three-quarters of the game [against Fremantle].

"As good teams do, we got punished when it wasn't on, so it was good feedback and a good audit of when we do it well. We're going to be hard to score against. When we don't, the reasons why we do it are obvious."

Asked about the big-picture progress of AFLW, Pearce said she was not concerned about the commercial viability of the League and its ability to be profitable, highlighting the value it adds to the broader football landscape.

The Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee said booming participation numbers in girls football meant the game at large benefited.  

Pearce said continued investment in talent pathways and coaching were critical to the League's success and on-field product.

"That investment in players is going to make our competition better and it's happening," the coach said.

"If you love footy and you come and watch us round one Thursday night at Leederville, you will love watching Ella Roberts play footy. So come and watch her play.

"The investment in coaching is another big thing. If you want to develop the competition and the players as quickly as you can, they need good coaching.

"I'm the only full-time coach in our program. We've got another coach who's full-time at the club, but split across multiple roles. The rest are part-time.

"They're firefighters, they're teachers, they work at the WA Footy Commission. So to fast-track the development of our players once they get here, I think that's the next step for the game.

"The professionalism of the players has increased through the CBA and the work through the AFL Players Association. The next step is through coaching."