West Coast coach Adam Simpson feels his team are better placed this year than in 2015 to break their premiership drought.
The Eagles secured a home preliminary final with a hard-fought 16-point win over Collingwood in Saturday night's qualifying final in Perth.
In front of a record 59,585 fans at a sold-out Optus Stadium, West Coast came from 10 points down at three-quarter time to secure the 12.14 (86) to 10.10 (70) win.
West Coast will now play either Melbourne or Hawthorn in Perth in two weeks' time for a place in the grand final.
The Eagles made the grand final in 2015 after beating Hawthorn and North Melbourne in home finals.
But they flopped on grand final day, losing to Hawthorn by 46 points at the MCG.
West Coast's squad has far more finals experience now, and Simpson thinks it will hold them in good stead as they attempt to win the club's first flag since 2006.
"The experience of our players I thought shone through (against Collingwood)," Simpson said.
"We've been there before (in big games), and I'm sure at some stage they would have drawn upon that.
"And we've been in the finals for four years now and made a couple of prelims.
"So I'm hoping the maturity of our players means we're more ready than we were in 2015."
West Coast are sweating on the fitness of defender Brad Sheppard, who injured his left hamstring during the opening quarter against Collingwood.
Sheppard will undergo scans to determine the extent of the damage, but the injury didn't look good and he might miss the rest of the season.
The 27-year-old's injury could open the door for veteran defender Will Schofield to return to the side.
West Coast forward Josh Kennedy looked rusty against Collingwood in his first match in seven weeks.
But the two-time Coleman medallist came good when the game was in the balance, finishing with 2.4 to his name in an intriguing battle with Tyson Goldsack.
Kennedy has been grounded by two separate hairline fractures in his right leg this season, but looms as a key figure in the preliminary final.
Simpson was happy with Kennedy's efforts against the Magpies.
"I thought he was a part of the resurgence," Simpson said.
"I thought JK probably had 10 opportunities in the first three quarters, and it took him until the last to get into the game in the way he knows he can do.
"But we'll take that every day of the week."
Share
