West Coast Midfielder Jack Graham admits players felt the pressure and went into their shells during Sunday’s game, despite doing a lot right the put them in a position to win. 

It was heartbreak for the West Coast Eagles who fell 10-points short of their second win in 2025, with North Melbourne simply being too strong in the final quarter, the Eagles unable to cope under the pressure. 

They did themselves no favours with wayward goal kicking earning them the unwanted record for most inside 50 entries before kicking a goal, which came in their 34th entry. 

North Melbourne also came out firing in the final quarter, which West Coast struggled to contain and let another win slip through their fingers with Cam Zurhaar and skipper Jy Simpkin putting the dagger in. 

Reflecting on last Sunday’s loss in Bunbury, Graham says its another learning curve for the Eagles as they continue to build. 

“We reviewed the last quarter as well, and we still had plenty of opportunities right down to the final siren. It’s just about weathering the storm,” he told SportFM. 

“We knew they were going to come out and throw everything that they’ve got in that last quarter. But for us, the boys went into their shells a little bit, as you could feel the pressure.

“We’ve just got to be able to deal with that because we want to be in those positions every game and we want to be on the winning side. It’s just another learning for us as a group.” 

“It’s disappointing to walk away knowing we’ve done so much right, but then not get the four points.” 

Although West Coast’s result didn’t reflect it, there were some silver linings that emerged from the disappointing day in Bunbury. 

While converting entries in their forward half to goals was an area West Coast fell short in, they recorded the most inside 50 entries since Round 8 2021 with 63 entries across the four quarters.

Graham says it hurt not to capitalise on the opportunities up forward. 

“We were going in and just not able able to score or capitalise and they were able to take their opportunities, especially late in the game. It does hurt,” he said.

“We had our review and just going through how we score more efficiently going inside 50. 

“It’s an improvement and the last month we’ve built our game and we’re playing the brand that we want, it hurts not to walk away with the four points.”

Graham also says being in games is not enough, and coming away with wins is the next step.

“We don’t want to just be in games and be like we tried hard, we went down by a couple of couple of goals,” he said.

“We want to really challenge the opposition and come away with the with the wins. 

“When times get tough, we get to work and we’re on the right side of the result.”

IMAGE: West Coast Eagles