West Coast may have gone some way to quashing their reputation as easybeats on the road by holding off the fast-finishing Power in Adelaide.
And although the Eagles' 15.7 (97) to 12.15 (87) victory over Port propelled them into the top four, coach Adam Simpson refuses to look too far ahead.
He says there are many aspects of the game his troops must work on before cementing themselves as true premiership contenders.
"At the moment, you just want to tick the wins over," Simpson said.
"We are not elite by any stretch and we are not a consistent top-four side.
"It's a long season. At the moment, we are not quite there yet, but tonight was a really important step."
Simpson said his side deserved some of the criticism for their woeful record away from home - particularly in Melbourne - but said the Eagles deserved more credit for their 5-2 ledger so far this season.
He was proud of his side's hard attack against Port, which resulted in West Coast winning the contested possessions (156-146), and their accuracy in front of goal.
But Simpson also acknowledged the Eagles needed to improve on their clearance work - they lost the count 44-35 - and delivering the ball inside 50 more often, where they were comprehensively beaten 68-39.
"We did a lot of things wrong (against Port)," he said.
"But we hung in the contest. We were efficient, but we'd like to get a bit more supply.
"We are not immune to criticism (and) tonight may not have answered those critics.
"But I am really proud of our players."
West Coast have a tough run ahead, hosting the Bulldogs on Friday night before travelling to Melbourne to face Essendon and returning home for a clash with GWS.
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