# 2023 West Coast Eagles season

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football team based in Perth, Western Australia. Their 2023 season was their 37th season in the Australian Football League (AFL), their tenth season with Adam Simpson as coach, and their fourth and final season with Luke Shuey as captain. They ended the season with 3 wins and 20 losses, a percentage of 53.0%, and placed 18th (last) to “win” the wooden spoon.

## Background

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football team based in Perth, Western Australia, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). They ended the 2022 home-and-away season seventeenth, or second last, on the ladder, with only two wins and twenty losses, their worst result ever. They only narrowly avoided winning the wooden spoon because North Melbourne's percentage was worse.
Prior to the start of the 2023 season, West Coast were widely expected to fare similarly to 2022. Out of a group of ten AFL.com.au journalists, all predicted that West Coast would finish the season 13th on the ladder or worse, with four predicting they would finish 16th. None of the journalists predicted that West Coast would finish last however. Fox Sports used a Pythagorean expectation formula to predict that West Coast would finish the season 17th. A group of Western Australia-based people from Nine Entertainment was more optimistic though, predicting West Coast would finish 12th, saying that they were unlucky with injuries in 2022, and that an influx of young players would help them be more competitive.
Luke Shuey was voted in as captain for the fourth consecutive season. Jeremy McGovern remained a vice-captain and was joined by Tom Barrass, who replaced Nic Naitanui who declined to continue as part of the leadership group. Adam Simpson remained as coach for his tenth season. The assistant coaches are Matthew Knights (midfield), Jarrad Schofield (strategy and stoppages), Daniel Pratt (backs) and Luke Webster (forwards). The development coaches are Jacob Brennan (development coordinator), Mark Nicoski (forwards) and Kyal Horsley (midfield).
Jayden Hunt joined West Coast as an unrestricted free agent on the first day of the 2022 trade period. He had previously played 114 games for Melbourne.

## Playing list
### Changes

Josh Kennedy retired at the end of the 2022 season, as was widely expected. Jack Redden also retired at the end of the season, albeit unexpectedly.
Removals from playing list :
| Player | Reason | Games | Ref. |
| Josh Kennedy | Retired | 293 (271 at West Coast) | |
| Jack Redden | Retired | 263 (234 at West Coast) | |
Additions to playing list :
| Player | Acquired | Former club | Former league | Ref. |
| Jayden Hunt | Unrestricted free agent | Melbourne | AFL | |

### Statistics

Playing list and statistics (as of round 9) :
| Player | No. | Games | Goals | Behinds | Kicks | Handballs | Disposals | Marks | Tackles |
| Liam Ryan | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 30 | 9 | 39 | 15 | 11 |
| Jake Waterman | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 78 | 35 | 113 | 46 | 18 |
| Andrew Gaff | 3 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 94 | 101 | 195 | 32 | 31 |
| Dom Sheed | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 54 | 69 | 123 | 20 | 16 |
| Jayden Hunt | 5 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 116 | 52 | 168 | 43 | 22 |
| Elliot Yeo | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 24 | 5 | 3 |
| Reuben Ginbey | 7 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 80 | 125 | 11 | 70 |
| Elijah Hewett | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 5 | 1 |
| Sam Petrevski-Seton | 10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 28 | 76 | 21 | 18 |
| Tim Kelly | 11 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 110 | 151 | 261 | 31 | 47 |
| Oscar Allen | 12 | 9 | 24 | 11 | 71 | 28 | 99 | 50 | 16 |
| Luke Shuey | 13 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 36 | 73 | 7 | 17 |
| Liam Duggan | 14 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 57 | 194 | 61 | 27 |
| Jamie Cripps | 15 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 12 | 5 |
| Luke Edwards | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 41 | 79 | 16 | 20 |
| Campbell Chesser | 18 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 8 | 23 | 8 | 7 |
| Brady Hough | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 8 | 24 | 6 | 7 |
| Jeremy McGovern | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 17 | 53 | 22 | 1 |
| Jack Petruccelle | 21 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 26 | 59 | 8 | 18 |
| Alex Witherden | 23 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 96 | 47 | 143 | 31 | 17 |
| Xavier O'Neill | 24 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 31 | 29 | 60 | 10 | 24 |
| Shannon Hurn | 25 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 37 | 126 | 23 | 11 |
| Zane Trew | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 5 |
| Jack Darling | 27 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 54 | 30 | 84 | 34 | 21 |
| Tom Cole | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 32 | 64 | 19 | 10 |
| Luke Foley | 29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 22 | 50 | 13 | 6 |
| Jamaine Jones | 31 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 104 | 69 | 173 | 31 | 22 |
| Bailey Williams | 32 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 64 | 113 | 10 | 28 |
| Rhett Bazzo | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| Josh Rotham | 35 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 9 | 50 | 24 | 7 |
| Connor West | 36 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 29 | 39 | 68 | 12 | 12 |
| Tom Barrass | 37 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 42 | 116 | 57 | 4 |
| Greg Clark | 39 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 52 | 90 | 19 | 18 |
| Callum Jamieson | 40 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
| Harry Edwards | 42 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Noah Long | 44 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 10 | 13 |
| Jai Culley | 49 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 8 | 15 |

## Season summary

In the 2023 AFL season, each team played 23 games and had a mid-season bye. West Coast played North Melbourne, Fremantle, Carlton, Richmond, Essendon, and Adelaide twice, and all the other teams once. Only one game was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the venue of the grand final, against Richmond. There were three games at Adelaide Oval as a result of the Gather Round, where West Coast played Geelong in Adelaide. Other venues included four games at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, one game at The Gabba in Brisbane, one game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and one game against Hawthorn at University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania.

### Results

Regular season results :
| Round | Day | Date | Result | Score | Score | Score | Opponent | Score | Score | Score | Ground | Ground | Attendance | Ladder | Margin | Ref. |
| Round | Day | Date | Result | G | B | T | Opponent | G | B | T | Ground | Ground | Attendance | Ladder | Margin | Ref. |
| 1 | Saturday | 18 March | Lost | 12 | 10 | 82 | North Melbourne | 12 | 15 | 87 | Marvel Stadium | A | 21,274 | 11th | -5 | |
| 2 | Sunday | 26 March | Won | 14 | 16 | 100 | Greater Western Sydney | 11 | 15 | 81 | Optus Stadium | H | 44,649 | 9th | +19 | |
| 3 | Sunday | 2 April | Lost | 9 | 13 | 67 | Fremantle | 16 | 12 | 108 | Optus Stadium | A | 56,090 | 12th | -41 | |
| 4 | Sunday | 9 April | Lost | 9 | 9 | 63 | Melbourne | 19 | 12 | 126 | Optus Stadium | H | 42,458 | 16th | -63 | |
| 5 | Sunday | 16 April | Lost | 13 | 11 | 89 | Geelong | 21 | 10 | 136 | Adelaide Oval | N | 30,120 | 17th | -47 | |
| 6 | Saturday | 22 April | Lost | 10 | 9 | 69 | Port Adelaide | 16 | 13 | 109 | Adelaide Oval | A | 31,638 | 17th | -40 | |
| 7 | Sunday | 29 April | Lost | 6 | 8 | 44 | Carlton | 23 | 14 | 152 | Optus Stadium | H | 47,940 | 18th | -108 | |
| 8 | Saturday | 6 May | Lost | 8 | 10 | 58 | Richmond | 15 | 14 | 104 | Melbourne Cricket Ground | A | 28,293 | 17th | -46 | |
| 9 | Friday | 12 May | Lost | 6 | 7 | 43 | Gold Coast | 16 | 17 | 113 | Optus Stadium | H | 36,219 | 18th | -70 | |
| 10 | Sunday | 21 May | Lost | 4 | 2 | 26 | Hawthorn | 22 | 10 | 142 | University of Tasmania Stadium | A | | 18th | -116 | |
| 11 | Saturday | 27 May | Lost | 6 | 10 | 46 | Essendon | 14 | 12 | 96 | Optus Stadium | H | | 18th | -50 | |
| 12 | Saturday | 3 June | Lost | 8 | 9 | 57 | Collingwood | 18 | 12 | 120 | Optus Stadium | H | | 18th | -63 | |
| 13 | Saturday | 10 June | Lost | 8 | 4 | 52 | Adelaide | 27 | 12 | 174 | Adelaide Oval | A | | 18th | -122 |
| 14 | | | | | | | Bye | | | | | | |
| 15 | Saturday | 24 June | Lost | 5 | 4 | 34 | Sydney | 31 | 19 | 205 | Sydney Cricket Ground | A | | 18th | -171 | |
| 16 | Sunday | 2 July | Lost | 12 | 5 | 77 | St Kilda | 12 | 13 | 85 | Optus Stadium | H | | 18th | -8 | |
| 17 | Saturday | 8 July | Lost | 5 | 5 | 35 | Brisbane Lions | 16 | 20 | 116 | The Gabba | A | | 18th | -81 |
| 18 | Sunday | 16 July | Lost | 8 | 12 | 60 | Richmond | 14 | 14 | 98 | Optus Stadium | H | | 18th | -38 |
| 19 | Saturday | 22 July | Lost | 10 | 9 | 69 | Carlton | 21 | 14 | 140 | Marvel Stadium | A | | 18th | -71 |
| 20 | Sunday | 30 July | Won | 10 | 12 | 72 | North Melbourne | 10 | 7 | 67 | Optus Stadium | H | | 18th | +5 |
| 21 | Saturday | 5 August | Lost | 11 | 6 | 72 | Essendon | 10 | 13 | 73 | Marvel Stadium | A | | 18th | -1 |
| 22 | Saturday | 12 August | Lost | 4 | 9 | 33 | Fremantle | 20 | 14 | 134 | Optus Stadium | H | | 18th | -101 |
| 23 | Sunday | 20 August | Won | 14 | 8 | 92 | Western Bulldogs | 12 | 13 | 85 | Marvel Stadium | A | | 17th | +7 |
| 24 | Saturday | 26 August | Lost | 12 | 6 | 78 | Adelaide | 17 | 21 | 123 | Optus Stadium | H | | 18th | -45 |
Key :
| H | Home game |
| A | Away game |
| N | Neutral game |

### Ladder

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Collingwood (P) | 23 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 2142 | 1687 | 127.0 | 72 | Finals series |
| 2 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 2180 | 1771 | 123.1 | 68 | Finals series |
| 3 | Port Adelaide | 23 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 2149 | 1906 | 112.7 | 68 | Finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne | 23 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 2079 | 1660 | 125.2 | 64 | Finals series |
| 5 | Carlton | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 1922 | 1697 | 113.3 | 54 | Finals series |
| 6 | St Kilda | 23 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 1775 | 1647 | 107.8 | 52 | Finals series |
| 7 | Greater Western Sydney | 23 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 2018 | 1885 | 107.1 | 52 | Finals series |
| 8 | Sydney | 23 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 2050 | 1863 | 110.0 | 50 | Finals series |
| 9 | Western Bulldogs | 23 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1919 | 1766 | 108.7 | 48 | |
| 10 | Adelaide | 23 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 2193 | 1877 | 116.8 | 44 | |
| 11 | Essendon | 23 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 1838 | 2050 | 89.7 | 44 | |
| 12 | Geelong | 23 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 2088 | 1855 | 112.6 | 42 | |
| 13 | Richmond | 23 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 1856 | 1983 | 93.6 | 42 | |
| 14 | Fremantle | 23 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 1835 | 1898 | 96.7 | 40 | |
| 15 | Gold Coast | 23 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 1839 | 2006 | 91.7 | 36 | |
| 16 | Hawthorn | 23 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 1686 | 2101 | 80.2 | 28 | |
| 17 | North Melbourne | 23 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 1657 | 2318 | 71.5 | 12 | |
| 18 | West Coast | 23 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 1418 | 2674 | 53.0 | 12 | |

## WAFL team

Robert Wiley was West Coast's WAFL coach.

## Awards

Reuben Ginbey was nominated for the Rising Star award in round three, making him the first Rising Star nomination from West Coast since Oscar Allen in round 21, 2019. Jai Culley was nominated for the Rising Star award in round six.
Awards received by West Coast players :
| Award | Awarded by | Player | Result | Ref. |
| Rising Star | Australian Football League | Reuben Ginbey (round 3) | Nominated | |
| Rising Star | Australian Football League | Jai Culley (round 6) | Nominated | |