West Coast forward Jack Williams has declared the young, injury-hit Eagles have the belief they can cause the most monumental of upsets and topple premiership fancies Collingwood at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

The Eagles are looking to become the first team in 20 years to be on the bottom of the ladder and defeat the top side — a herculean task given the Magpies are on a six-game winning streak.

It comes as Williams said he was ready to stand up and be the main tall target in attack with West Coast forced to navigate the rest of the season without their two leading spearheads in Oscar Allen and Jake Waterman.

West Coast — who have only one win this year — head into the game against the Magpies as enormous $14 outsiders.

It’s unsurprising Collingwood sit a game-and-a-half on top of the table before the round and are primed for a second premiership in three seasons.

Not since Collingwood beat the Eagles in 2005 has the league’s last-placed side got the best of a team on top of the table.

However, Williams said West Coast were going into the match with the belief they could cause an unlikely boil-over.

“It’s going to be a tough game; Collingwood are in pretty good form. They’re probably the best team in the competition,” he told The West Australian.

“We want to embrace the challenge. We feel like we go into every game believing that we can win.

“We’ve started to string some better football together and are starting to play a better brand that we’re going after so we must continue to do that. We will give it a crack for sure.”

West Coast know they cannot allow Collingwood to get the jump on them if they are any chance of victory, having learnt that lesson the hard way before the bye.

Carlton ambushed the Eagles at Optus Stadium less than a fortnight ago, kicking 10 of the first 11 goals.

Their dismal opening quarter was described by first-year coach Andrew McQualter as “pathetic”.

Williams said the Eagles knew if they didn’t come out at their best, a side like Collingwood could do even more damage.

“It’s an even tougher environment compared to the Carlton game at home. Playing the top team in Melbourne, if we have a low quarter like we did a couple of weeks ago it could be even worse,” he said.

“We are definitely putting emphasis on the starting the game well and going after the way we want to play the game so we can give ourselves every chance for the rest of the game.”

Williams is only 38 games and 34 goals into a promising career, but the fourth-year forward is set to shoulder a lot of responsibility for the rest of the season.

Co-captain Allen joined last year’s leading goalkicker and All-Australian Waterman on the sidelines with a season-ending injury in the first half of the year, leaving Williams to be the focal point of the Eagles’ forward line alongside forward-ruck Bailey Williams and promising debutant Jobe Shanahan.

While it might be a daunting task, Williams said he was prepared to take it head on as he looks to establish himself at the AFL level.

“It’s been tough for Oz and Jake … you hate to see that happen to them. They’re two leaders of our club and I enjoy playing with them because they make you walk taller when you’re out there,” he said.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but we’ve got a youthful forward line with myself, Baz and young Jobe — I’m looking forward to it.

“At this point of my career I’m ready to step up for the team and put my foot forward as a threat up forward.”

Williams had a breakout season in 2024 as a forward-ruck and while he’s played the role at times throughout this year, he has been predominantly used in attack where he is starting to develop his game.

“The combination has been changing a fair bit this year and as opposed to last year I haven’t done as much ruck work especially when we’ve got the two rucks playing in Baz and (Matt) Flynn,” he said.

“During the week I’m still practicing my ruck craft because you never know what could happen and I’ve had to ruck a bit at times this year, more so earlier in the year than compared to now.

“Being the primary target forward at the moment, that’s probably where my main focus is so while I am still keeping up with my ruck craft but being a forward is more important for me at the moment.”