West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen says the Eagles are ready to take the next step in their rebuild, learning to win.

The young, rebuilding side has produced an improved six weeks of football, taking it up to Melbourne, Richmond and Geelong, as well as grabbing a breakthrough victory against St Kilda.

They fell by 66 points to the Crows in Adelaide but had a chance to lead the game heading into halftime of that match.

Again, against the Cats on Sunday, the Eagles were within a goal of the lead early in the final term.

Allen says it’s now time for the Eagles to turn their footholds in games into positive results.

“Obviously, you want to win the game, but that’s probably the next evolution for us as a team, figuring out how to win games,” he told Channel 7.

“Like at the start of the last quarter, it gets down to six points, you miss a shot on goal, and they go the other way and score and they kind of bounce.

“It’s a great lesson for us, but I think the process of what we’re going for is really improving.

“In stages, we’ve been able to focus on the process, not the outcome, so we’re seeing pleasing signs.

“Working alongside young Archer Reid and Jack Williams, I think they’ll both be good players for the footy club. They did a mountain of work, and I got a few cheapies out the back.”

Allen kicked four majors for the Eagles in the absence of fellow spearhead Jake Waterman, who will miss the remainder of the season after dislocating his shoulder against Adelaide and needing a reconstruction.

Jeremy Cameron kicked five of his own at the other end for the Cats, adding to the nine he put on Reuben Ginbey the last time they met in round 24, 2024.

However, four of those five goals came in 10 minutes of junk time at the end of the fourth quarter, and Allen was full of praise for Ginbey’s efforts.

“Reuben Ginbey was really good tonight. He did great on Jezza. He got a little bit of a kick late, but I thought Reuben worked his backside off for us,” he said.

“Geelong are a tremendous side and have been over a long time, so they probably worked us over in the contest element late.

“But I’m really pleased with some of the promising signs. I thought our young guys looked good.”