AN UNLIKELY finals appearance is still within West Coast's grasp, veteran Dean Cox says.
West Coast’s hopes of playing in September appeared dashed when it suffered a heartbreaking three-point loss to Essendon on Saturday night. But less than four hours later, Adelaide and Collingwood losing left the door ajar for the Eagles.
If they win their final two matches against Melbourne and Gold Coast - and Adelaide, Collingwood and Richmond all suffer a defeat in the last two rounds - the Eagles will ghost into eighth spot with 11 wins, provided their percentage is superior to Adelaide’s.
Cox said the Eagles players knew a finals berth was within their reach.
"Well it's certainly left in our own hands," Cox said.
"We've just got to win both games of footy, and then percentage or other results will take care of themselves. Richmond knocking off Adelaide on the weekend certainly gave us some glimmer of hope."
Cox also believes the Eagles would not simply be making up the numbers if they reached September.
"You've just got to play your best footy," Cox said.
"At times we've shown it's been good enough for periods.
"And even against the sides in the top four, we've had parts of games where we've really taken it up to them and exposed them at times.
"When you get to finals time, there's no easybeats or sides that don't deserve to be there."
Cox will play his final game at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night when the Eagles host the Demons. The six-time All Australian and club games record holder announced a month ago that he would retire from AFL football at the end of the season.
He said the emotion of a farewell game at Patersons Stadium had been hijacked somewhat by the prospect of finals football.
"(It) has probably taken my mind off playing my last game here a little bit more than it would if we were well and truly out of the finals race," Cox said.
The veteran said he was very comfortable with the decision not to go on next year.
He also felt the season would not be a wasted one for the club if the Eagles failed to play finals.
"Last year we got to a stage where we weren't playing finals and really dropped off," Cox said.
"So it's been a real focus of this playing group, finals aside, to try to finish the year off playing the brand of footy we want to take into pre-season and take going forward.
"We've got a young of guys who are going to get the opportunity now to play a lot of footy (together), and we've got to start putting things in place now.
"Finals, if they come, great. If they don't, well I think the last part of the year hasn't been a waste."
