WEST Coast coach Daisy Pearce has pointed to Carlton's physicality and intensity as the difference in Saturday's elimination final.

After the Eagles matched it with the Blues in the first half, Carlton came out after the main break and kicked six unanswered goals, helping deliver a 41-point win in wet and miserable conditions at Ikon Park.

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"I just thought they lifted their physicality and intensity," Pearce said.

"For a 15-minute period or so, we just get knocked off the ball a bit too easily. That's finals footy and it'll be a great lesson for us moving forward."

Pearce says her side will walk away with invaluable experience from their first foray into finals, and that the club will look to implement changes heading into next season.

"We just go back to the drawing board, try and really narrow in on a couple of things that are going to give us big bang for buck next year. A good starting point will be more strength and conditioning in our fundamentals. Just more work ahead of us," said Pearce.

"That was the message coming into today. When you eventually get there and have success, it's these moments that make it more satisfying. You've got to endure losses like today and have experiences like today."

After losing to Carlton the previous week it looked as though West Coast's season was over, but Sydney's shock loss to Essendon gave the Eagles a second chance.

The second-year coach said that despite the unusual build-up, she couldn't fault her players' preparation leading into Saturday's game.

"I thought they managed the week really well. In the end, once we lost to Carlton on Friday night, you can't control what plays out from there," said Pearce.

"But I thought they struck a really good balance of don't pretend that it's not emotional. There's a lot riding on it.

"They wanted a crack at finals, but by Monday they'd come in, really reset themselves, were clear about what was important throughout the week, (and) trained really well on Wednesday.

"I can't fault their prep, we just ran into a better side today."

For Carlton coach Mathew Buck, he and his Blues will start to look forward to next week's semi-final against Hawthorn.

Defensive midfielder Lily Goss was excellent in Saturday's final playing a run-with role on Eagles star Ella Roberts for the second week in a row.

The Carlton coach was questioned as to whether he would look to use a tag against the Hawks. 

"That's nothing you'd wish on anyone to have to tag Ella Roberts two weeks in a row," Buck said.

"She's genuinely one of the stars of the competition and again she showed that today. I feel like you have to tag her. She's just that kind of player.

"But Lily Goss, she's a no-fuss operator. Never once questions what she has to do and how she has to go about it. Her resilience to be able to stick to her role is fantastic.

"Hawks this week? Yeah, who knows. We'll have a close look and we know we've got that in our pocket if we need it."

Buck also praised his two Irish players Erone Fitzpatrick and Dayna Finn, whose cleanliness with the footy stood out in the tricky conditions. Both players were named in this season's All-Australian squad.

"Speaking about people that are strong in the contest, you know, that's Dayna," Buck said.

"She's built her whole game out on that and then Erone is spectacular in the way she plays. Her cleanliness today to pick up the ball when everyone else is fumbling below their knees really stood out to me and then her acceleration once she has the ball is second to none.

"I think her All-Australian blazer will look good hopefully."