Analysis: West Coast need to make decision on AFLW coach Michael Prior before the end of the season or face more problem

If Eagles decide Michael Prior is not the man to lead AFLW team next season, they should pull the trigger now, writes ELIZA REILLY.

The spotlight is on Michael Prior’s position after his post-match comments last weekend. Picture: Gary Day/AFL Photos via Getty Images

If West Coast decide that Michael Prior is no longer the man to lead its AFLW team next season, they should pull the trigger now.

Not at the end of the season.

Not in the new year when the dust has settled on another underwhelming campaign.

Now.

The slight problem, of course, is that such a move would be counter to what West Coast has traditionally stood for. The Eagles don’t make fast decisions. The saga that engulfed AFL coach Adam Simpson at the end of the season is merely the latest example.

There’s a lot at stake here.

Prior’s comments about the AFLW fixture and the fact his side – which finished 16th, not last, as he claimed – had to play reigning premiers Naarm were a symptom of a deeper issue. It’s not the first time Prior has been forced to address his outbursts either.

Watch the full post-match press conference with Senior Coach Michael Prior. pic.twitter.com/lR3WsFtoJS

— West Coast Eagles AFLW (@eaglesaflw) October 15, 2023

Last year, Prior was forced to apologise after declaring “I think we’ve done the pride stuff to death” when asked about West Coast’s decision to not produce a pride jumper, the only club in the competition to adopt that position. And in season seven, Prior was forced to break bread with the AFL’s umpiring department after declaring his side needed “to get a few more” free kicks following a three-point loss to Hawthorn.

Prior wouldn’t go into detail but said his latest misstep was a product of frustration, addressing the media for the first time since his post-match press conference on Wednesday.

“It’s more my frustration and a lot of little things that led up to that. I won’t go into all of them,” he said. “It was the wrong time and it wasn’t the view of the footy club. What I said was inappropriate. I’ve spoken to the players and the club about that. Frustration led to that.”

Many took Prior’s baffling fixture comment as a tacit admission that his players aren’t good enough to compete with the best of the best. Prior denied that was the point he was trying to make, labelling it a “misinterpretation” but the players, led by captain Emma Swanson, weren’t impressed at first.

“I won’t lie it was a bit of a shock for the playing group when we first heard the comments,” Swanson said. “Lucky for all of us, we were back at the club 24 hours later and we were able to talk to Mick face-to-face and hear his ownership and apology. We moved on pretty quickly.”

When the AFLW season concludes, the trade period and draft follows soon after. Player retention and accumulation will quickly become West Coast’s number one priority, if it isn’t already. But how can the Eagles sell a vision of success when Prior has led them to just four wins in three seasons at the helm?

The Eagles have won just four games in the last three seasons. Picture: Gary Day/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Prospective draftees are expected to have the option of nominating for a national draft pool instead of just WA as per previous drafts. Rival clubs won’t hesitate to pick up the phone if they believe they can prise West Coast’s budding stars out of the club.

Last month, Eagles head of women’s football Michelle Cowan said Prior would have until the end of the season to turn things around.

“Mick is our coach,” Cowan told CODE Sports. “We’ll look at everything to do with the program at the end of the year. For me, it is round four. It’s really early days. He’s certainly got our full support.”

We are now three weeks away from that point and the Eagles have lost six of their seven games by an average margin of 39.5 points.

Prior, too, believes he is the right man to lead West Coast through a painful rebuild, although he said he had yet to have a conversation with the club around his position heading into the final three games of the season.

“I think so,” he said. “I know what I’m trying to do with the players and I know how the players are feeling at the moment and I believe I can take the group forward.”

There is a belief that West Coast has treated its AFLW program with borderline contempt from the outset. That’s not to say that there aren’t people who care deeply about women’s football and believe in a future where West Coast is holding aloft the club’s fifth premiership cup. They are there. But the macro impression remains regardless.

Michael Prior was handed the coaching job while working in the Eagles community department. Picture: Gary Day/AFL Photos via Getty Images

To understand Prior’s appointment as West Coast’s AFLW coach, you must understand that he was already working in the club’s community and game development department as the head of the Eagles’ women’s high performance academy when he was handed the job.

The Eagles did not run an external process and invite the best and most qualified applicants to apply after Daniel Pratt stepped down. They just walked down the hallway.

Those who have played under Prior say he is ultimately a good person and respected figure. He drives high standards at training. But industry figures struggle to identify a discernible game plan, especially forward of centre.

A coaching change at this stage of the season may seem pointless and unsettling, but it would give someone else the opportunity to see what they can do with the group and get a head start on 2024.

Ultimately, Prior is a symptom of a greater issue enveloping West Coast. His role hasn’t been easy. The Eagles have only just compiled a list that is competitive after flicking through three coaches in their first three seasons.

But ultimately the buck stops with the head coach. And at stages of his tenure, Prior has presented like a man who is not up for the fight in front of him.

If that’s the case, West Coast players deserve more.

Originally published as Analysis: West Coast need to make decision on AFLW coach Michael Prior before the end of the season or face more problem