Perth coach Mark Stone believes the Demons are primed to build on breaking long-running finals drought in 2025

Perth coach Mark Stone is confident the Demons are primed to build on their drought-breaking 2025 campaign, saying had not detected any signs of his side becoming complacent after what they achieved last season. Stone guided Perth to their first finals victory since 1997 in his first year at the helm, a 29-point elimination final victory over East Fremantle which was followed up by a loss to Claremont the following week. In their first game of the new season, the Demons fired a warning shot to the rest of the competition by kicking 24 goals on their way to a 65-point smashing of West Coast. Speaking after the win over the Eagles, Stone said his team had attacked their pre-season with no less intensity than when he initially took over the senior coaching role. “They’re pretty fiercely determined to get back there, where they were last year. There’s obviously a lot of footy left before that happens,” he said. “I’ve seen them in pre-season really determined to improve, and particularly targeting the areas we knew we had to get better at. They had a real desire over summer to get better. “The past is the past, all we can do is look at what’s in front of us and what’s next.” The Demons remained active on the recruiting front over the summer, bringing in former Collingwood defender Charlie Dean, Indhi Kirk — the son of Sydney champion Brett who spent two years on the Swans’ list without playing a game — and crafty forward Jack Kluske. Stone said he was “very happy” with the trio’s performances in their first official game wearing red and black. “Indhi’s a high-end runner, and the longer the game goes, the more space he seems to find. For a lightly-built guy, he’s pretty tough, he doesn’t mind the contest,” he said. “Charlie’s just so steady for us and I was really happy with Jack Kluske as well, I thought some of his work was really composed. Coming out of contests, he found targets for us and put a couple on the scoreboard himself. “All of our newer players did a really good job.”