Danielle Laidley: How Andrew McQualter masterminded West Coast Eagles’ drought breaking victory

Late last season, I was on a Sunday morning walk and happened to run into West Coast coach Andrew McQualter, spending time with his children before heading to Optus Stadium for that afternoon’s home game. I congratulated him on the job and passed on my wishes. My view was he was doing a terrific job in what was a very difficult season. This guy can coach! We spoke about a few specific areas, in what was only a short conversation. The one thing I did mention was the midfield. If you can win the contest battle over the course of a game, other parts of their game to me already stood up. There was a rye smile from the coach back then and now we know why after last weekend. Senior coaches don’t get much kudos, but last weekend’s game was a coaching masterclass, particularly with a team still developing. North Melbourne had kicked five goals to one half way through the first quarter before the coach stopped the bleeding by putting Jake Waterman behind the ball, where he impacted and helped slow the scoring. It was two goals apiece for the rest of the quarter. Quarter time was critical. The coach spoke to the players succinctly about being calm and not panicking with the ball, which was causing turnovers. He reinforced the contest numbers and keeping down North’s uncontested marks. Just what the young team needed, reassurance for positive outcomes. Halfway through second quarter, the Eagles had kicked three goals to one. They were hurting North in post-clearance contests and from there they were away. It started in the midfield. Elliot Yeo, Jack Graham, Tim Kelly and Deven Robertson did the heavy lifting and all of a sudden, Harley Reid doesn’t have to have to be at the coalface getting battered and bruised all the time. He was able to receive the ball to run and carry and low and behold he had a career-high 30 disposals. Then add Willem Duursma’s absolute class on the outside, Graham is a beast on the inside, Robertson has shown he can sustain winning the ball on the inside, Yeo is Yeo and Kelly is vitally important for the team rebuild when he can just play his role. He has copped a lot of flack but he has had a good pre-season and the coach backed him. Don’t underestimate the more mature players, they are equally important as the young developing players. They were still seven points down going into the main break, then they kicked 8.1 to two goals in the third quarter, yet the coach was hellbent on not giving North a sniff. This time it’s Jobe Shanahan who goes behind the ball. That’s great confidence shown by the coach in a young player and it was situational football at its best. North fired a few shots and closed the gap in the last quarter, but the coach pulled the reins again. Waterman looked like he was going to be the match-winner at this point, he was in everything and kicked 1.1 so he couldn’t go behind the ball. Shanahan does and takes an important intercept mark deep in defensive 50 while North were coming hard. There was a turnover that resulted in a goal, but minutes later he picks up a ground-ball intercept, hits his target and the team slows the game down with uncontested marks. It was a day where it all came together, the coach leadership and strategy, the importance of experienced players and the emergence of possible stars of the future.