AT THE end of a one-win season and a rollercoaster introduction to full-time AFL coaching, it was clear to West Coast's Andrew McQualter that his team needed to learn how to "compete to win" again. 

Winning is contagious and addictive, the coach said, and the Eagles had been starved of the feeling for too long, winning 11 games in four seasons and only singing the team song once in 2025 after an emotion-charged win against St Kilda. 

The challenge for McQualter in a pre-season when your only opposition is yourself is how to bring back that winning feeling and give players the opportunity to compete in a meaningful way. 

The solution for the Eagles was to build competition into all aspects of their summer, on and off the field. 

They split the squad into mini teams for the duration of the pre-season, created a running leaderboard, and competed in everything from weekly skills tests to team comedy skits and photography, with the winning team coached by Luke Shuey announced last week. 

There were 'Minute to Win It' contests, goalkicking competitions, and camping challenges when the squad headed to a bush camp in WA's Darling Range, drawing out the players natural competitive instincts. 

It added an element of fun during the grinding summer months, but there was also an underlying point to it all that McQualter hopes will pay off when the 2026 season starts. 

"Winning is contagious and it becomes something that, when it happens, you become addicted to it. But we haven't had that feeling for a little while now, so we're trying to get to the point where our players get used to that feeling," McQualter told AFL.com.au. 

"We built a pre-season competition and we put the players into teams … with plenty of competitions that they took part in over the pre-season.

"It wasn't specifically football stuff, but it was all about the idea of competing and having a scoreboard involved.

"A real part of it is the feeling of winning, learning to win and competing to win, which is something everyone's striving to do. 

"It was pretty even towards the end of it, and we might have adjusted the scores to keep it pretty even at times, but that's half the fun of it."

Shuey's winning crew included co-captain Liam Baker, recruit Finlay Macrae, young talls Jobe Shanahan and Harry Barnett, small forward Noah Long, and versatile tall Ryan Maric. 

The teams were designed to be evenly split, but they also highlighted another priority at West Coast this year as the club attempts to build the connections among a group that includes 11 new players and several new faces in coaching and high performance. 

Dual premiership Brisbane defender Brandon Starcevich headlined the influx of players, with defender Tylar Young (Richmond) and mature-age midfielders Harry Schoenberg (Adelaide), Macrae (Collingwood) and Deven Robertson (Brisbane) also joining from rival clubs.  

Prized draftees Willem Duursma and Cooper Duff-Tytler were also joined by Josh Lindsay, Tylah Williams, Sam Allen and Fred Rodriguez in a bumper crop of young talent. 

In the coaching team, the Eagles secured midfield coach Sam Radford from Melbourne and backline coach Mitch Duncan after his retirement from Geelong, while respected high performance manager Phil Merriman crossed from Fremantle. 

The Eagles have also employed three-time Richmond premiership player Kane Lambert to work in coach development, helping run a program alongside head of football John Worsfold and leadership consultant Harry Taylor to provide professional development to the club's coaches.

"It's an incredible amount of shifting personnel within our football department and it takes time to build up these relationships," McQualter said. 

"So we've had some sessions that we've ran weekly throughout the pre-season that have just helped increase our understanding of each other and what drives each other. 

"We've put it into a more relaxed environment, and I think then we've just provided a platform for people to share, and that's as simple as it is. 

"Sometimes there's a little bit of awkwardness that comes with it and the awkward silences, but I think you embrace them and the players enjoy sharing things with each other.

"I see it as a strength of good teams, so I'm a huge believer in it and that's why we've created space for it. But I think the best teams often have the best relationships and understanding of each other and care for each other."

Reflecting on his first full season as a senior coach, McQualter highlighted the 87-point loss to Gold Coast in round one and its aftermath as the most challenging period he faced. 

The team gathered itself to produce competitive performances through the middle stages of the season, highlighted by the stirring St Kilda win and narrow losses against Essendon and Richmond before personnel issues contributed to some heavy losses late in the year. 

"I rode the rollercoaster as everyone does, but on reflection, one thing I'm proud of is that we fronted up every week," McQualter said. 

"We had some average games of football. We had some average games of preparation as well. But by the time game day rolled around each week and the day of the game, I was confident our team could win. 

"Clearly that didn't transpire to be the case, but I think it was the resilience we showed as a group. There was never a time where you walked into our building on a Monday morning and it was doom and gloom.

"That's something that I reflected on, and I think within that, we were just desperate to improve. We're still on that journey. We're still working our way through it … but without doubt we've made progress in our game this year." 

When it comes to his own coaching, McQualter has struck up a relationship with Brisbane Broncos NRL coach Michael Maguire, with the pair participating in an online group with coaches and leaders around the world. 

Maguire, 52, led the Broncos to a premiership in his first season with the club last year, coached New South Wales to State of Origin glory in 2024, and steered the South Sydney Rabbitohs to a drought-breaking premiership in 2014.  

McQualter was invited to join the Broncos coaching team in the box for match last season and said working with Maguire and other leaders in similar roles had been a valuable form of professional development.  

"He (Maguire) started coaching when he was in his mid to late thirties, so he was able to share some great insights just of the journey of coaching and what he's learned over his time," McQualter said. 

"I've done a fair bit of PD (professional development) over my time, and it's actually as valuable a PD as you'll ever get, sharing real life experiences with people going through the same thing.

"So I value that and then going forward, you've just got to stay really curious and that's something that I want to do."

Subscribe to the Your Coach podcast to listen to Nathan Schmook's full interview with West Coast coach Andrew McQualter this week.