WEST Coast players face an off-season making key choices about how much they want to improve ahead of a critical 2027, particularly when it comes to the fundamental skills that let them down through the second half of a four-win season. 

The Eagles took a step forward in coach Andrew McQualter's second season, but missed opportunities in close games and glaring skill deficiencies meant the leap forward was not as big as it could have been. 

Far too often in 2026 the team worked hard to move the ball in a game style that appeared to be clicking, only for their efforts to come undone by unforced errors by hand or foot that left McQualter powerless in some games.  

The coach does have the power to set expectations for the summer, however, and left his players with a message about improvement on Sunday night after an 11th straight defeat to end the season. 

"I just spoke to the group then about that, that we get to make choices for the next 14 weeks before we begin pre-season again about how much we want to get better and improve," McQualter said. 

"And that's me as a coach, our coaching group, our staff and our players.

"I think we've become a pretty good running team this year. The next step is to get our fundamentals better and our system better."

West Coast fielded the 16th youngest and least experienced team of round 24, ahead of only Essendon and Port Adelaide, and improving the group's skill level will take time. 

It will certainly be a priority, however, after implementing a new program under respected head of development Jamie Maddocks and putting a premium on skill improvement. 

The Eagles knew there was significant ground to make up on the competition and saw a large increase in the work done on fundamental skills last pre-season, particularly among the young cohort. 

Now McQualter wants that focus incorporated into off-season programs where possible, as well as next pre-season. 

"It's both [off-season and pre-season]. It's harder to work in during your off-season, but you can walk around with a footy all day if you want, and people do that," the coach said. 

"I think it's also a little bit about the mindset around our fundamentals, and willingness to spend time over the ball. You're going to get hit in this game, so getting used to that and comfortable with that. 

"We'll keep pushing our players to do it and keep finding more players who do it well."  

When it comes to their system, the Eagles ranked 18th for moving the ball from their defensive 50 to forward 50, with skill execution playing a clear role, while they were 17th for converting rebound 50s to scores. 

They were 18th for handball efficiency and 17th for overall disposal efficiency. 

McQualter had no doubt, however, the young group would put in the pre-season work required to improve their fundamentals after watching the club's elite draftees set new standards last summer. 

"I've got an enormous amount of belief in this group that they're up for the fight and willing to do the work," McQualter said.

"We've been driven by a young core of hard-working people, which is what this group did last off-season.

"They worked. They worked incredibly hard. We had guys in two days' time from today last year training. 

"So we've got to get that balance right to make sure they get a bit of a spell.

"We're just not happy with where we are at, which is expected. But these guys will work."