West Coast set grim unwanted records amid one of the worst starts to an AFL season in history

Just how bad is West Coast? According to Champion Data, historically bad. And it’s got club legends fearing the worst about what 2025 could bring.

If there was a spot below 18th on the AFL ladder, West Coast would occupy it.

Veterans out of form, injuries to key players, pre-season scuffles, young players in tears post-match, the co-captain meeting with an opposition club – almost everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for new coach Andrew McQualter.

The Eagles are currently sitting 18th on the ladder and have lost their first five games by an average margin of 59.2 points. At 0-5, club greats fear that it could still get worse for West Coast.

“They won’t win a game this year,” four-time club champion Glen Jakovich told 6PR this week.

“They’re going to struggle to win a game. That’s how deep the mess is.

“Tell me, who are they going to beat? Based on that performance? Who’s coming back?

“West Coast can’t blood any more young ones. I think he (McQualter) needs to drop more players but there’s none to drop. The list is so poor.”

The barren run at West Coast goes on. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Just how bad is West Coast?

According to Champion Data, historically bad.

The Eagles are the worst clearance, contested ball, pressure and first possession outfit through the opening five rounds of any season in the history of AFL statistics.

West Coast has also set unwanted club records for its worst points for and against start to a season, while being the fourth-worst side for points from clearances. All categories date back to 1999.

In the midfield, the 2025 Eagles have taken the mantle from the 2013 Demons for the biggest contested possession differential after five games. Mark Neeld’s side won just two games that season with a minus-120 record across the opening rounds, surpassed only by West Coast’s minus-124.

The Eagles current clearance differential of minus-75 also eclipses Melbourne’s previous record of minus-64 in 2014.

It comes after West Coast set a new unwanted record for the lowest-ever contested ball tally against Carlton, finishing with just 77. It yielded a contested differential of minus-59, the fourth-worst on record.

“It’s never a stat you want to be involved with, but we’ve got to get better and we understand that we’re going to train it, we review it and away we go,” McQualter said on Wednesday.

“There’s no easy fix for that.

“Footy is a really simple game. You have to get your fundamentals really strong, and we weren’t in that space last week. We’ve reviewed it really strongly. We’re going to continue to train it and support our players.

“We’ll just continue to back all of our players …. whoever we pick each week. Players in our WAFL program are working on the same things as well. It is a simple game. You have to get your fundamentals right first.”

West Coast’s minus-91 first possession rate and 168 pressure rating is also the worst five-week stretch to start a season in the history of those statistics being recorded.

Closer to home, the Eagles’ current 58.6 points for and 117.8 points against averages marks the club’s worst start to a season ever. And West Coast’s minus-114 points from clearances is the fourth-worst tally on record.

“We’re working our way through what is the standard needed for AFL football and to be able to compete and win,” McQualter said. “And we’re looking forensically at everything … we’re working our way through our whole program.

“We have a young list, so that’s real. That’s where we’re at. We’re working hard to improve these players and our senior players and our leadership group have a really important role in that. And these guys are really determined to help us move forward.”

Andrew McQualter has been put through a tough initiation. Picture: Matt King/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Young defender Brady Hough broke down in tears during a post-match interview last week and veteran midfielder Tim Kelly is struggling with his love of the game.

But McQualter is adamant that the heavy losses aren’t taking a toll on the playing group.

“I think it’s all about learning and understanding the position we’re in at the moment but every time we take to the park of training, we have to keep trying to get better,” he said.

“We have the best job in the world.

“We don’t have to go out and dig holes every day. We don’t save babies. That’s the really hard work. So although we’re not happy with where we’re at, we’re really fortunate we get to be in this situation.”

Originally published as West Coast set grim unwanted records amid one of the worst starts to an AFL season in history