Waalitij Marawar (West Coast) forward Jobe Shanahan reveals simple tweak he and Eagles made to kick more goals

A simple change in mindset, driven by watching star spearhead Jake Waterman at work, has West Coast’s forward line playing more to their strengths, according to young goalkicker Jobe Shanahan. The Eagles, who have adopted the name Waalitij Marawar for Sir Doug Nicholls Round, breached the 80-point mark for only the fourth time this season in Sunday’s 17-point upset victory over Greater Western Sydney. They’ve failed to reach halfway to their 88 points kicked against the Giants at Optus Stadium on three occasions, and while at times the tall timber has been starved of opportunity, forward 50 retention has proved a problem with their inside 50 average sitting just under 50 per game. However, the change in the club’s third win of the season was clear as Shanahan, Jack Williams and Waterman all took turns ranging up the ground to not only find a touch, but to start influencing the contest. Shanahan burst onto the scene after being handed a debut in round 16 against Collingwood last season, his run and jump, as well as his strong hands, singling him out as potentially the next in a rich line of talented forwards to play for West Coast. But the 19-year-old has fallen into the trap wily defenders are all too keen to spring on young forwards, forcing them to stand in a one-on-one and try to outmuscle a man who’s played three times as many AFL games. And it’s worked, with Shanahan not having taken a single mark from his 15 one-on-one contests in 2026 according to Champion Data. He has also only won the ball to ground in three of those contests and has been out-marked four times, more than double the league average. He also has as many marks in defence as up forward. Shanahan said it had been on him to adjust and get back to what he does best. “We all run pretty hard, and we love getting up the ground all of us, we’ve got big tanks, so I think we just used our strengths a bit more,” he told The West Australian. “I sort of haven’t been coming to the footy as much, so to just be able to come up and take some marks was good.” The change in approach saw the rising star claim five marks against GWS, four between the arcs and one inside 50, which came from a run-and-jump at the ball, resulting in a goal. It helps having one of the best in the business by his side, Shanahan declaring Waterman the perfect role model for adjusting his style. “He really led in that last quarter, and it was pretty crazy seeing him run through the pack and clunk some,” he said. “He’s a massive leader in our forward line. All our meetings, he’s speaking up all the time, so it’s good to be able to learn off him as one of the best forwards in the league.” While it was clear Adam Kingsley and the Giants were left in shock by West Coast’s pressure and hunt around the ball, Shanahan said internally the team had felt another positive result was just over the horizon, and he added it felt the same ahead of facing Collingwood on Saturday. “I think over the last few weeks we’ve been getting better, and maybe the outsiders don’t see it, but we can see it on the inside,” he said. “We knew we were building something, and this win just sort of shows that. We’ll celebrate now, and we will go again next week. “No matter if we win or lose, we want to finish really well and be able to drive into the next week, so I think (the second half against Melbourne) set us up really well.”