2020 West Coast Eagles season

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football team based in Perth, Western Australia.

The West Coast Eagles finished the season with 12 wins and 5 losses, placing them fifth on the ladder, qualifying for the 2020 AFL finals series, in which they were eliminated in the first round by eighth-placed Collingwood.

[5][6] In December 2019, Luke Shuey was named captain of the West Coast Eagles, after Shannon Hurn stepped down from the role.

Jack Darling, Andrew Gaff, Nic Naitanui and Elliot Yeo rounded out the leadership group.

[9] In February 2020, as part of West Coast's overall rebrand over the past few years, they released a new version of their club song.

[10][11][12] West Coast's major sponsors for 2020 were fast food outlet Hungry Jack's and online mortgage broker Lendi.

[14] At the end of their 2019 season, West Coast delisted premiership eagle Chris Masten, Fraser McInnes, Kurt Mutimer and Matthew Allen.

In addition, Brodie Riach, Patrick Bines, Keegan Brooksby and Josh Smith from the rookie list were delisted.

[nb 1] Brendon Ah Chee and Hamish Brayshaw were also delisted from the primary list, with the Eagles citing it as preparation for the draft.

They were Tom Barrass, Jack Darling, Andrew Gaff, Tim Kelly, Liam Ryan and Brad Sheppard.

[32] In February 2020, Daniel Venables was ruled out for the entire 2020 season due to concussion as a result of a head knock he suffered in round nine of 2019.

West Coast would have played 22 matches, facing Collingwood, Fremantle, Geelong, Richmond and Port Adelaide twice, and all other teams once.

[42] As part of their pre-season, West Coast faced Essendon and Fremantle in the Marsh Community Series, ending up beaten by both teams.

[45] West Coast played their first game of the regular season on 22 March against Melbourne at Optus Stadium.

[52] West Coast then played Port Adelaide, the eventual minor premiers at Metricon Stadium, in which the Eagles were beaten 13.11 (89) to 6.5 (41).

That game making it three losses in a row for the Eagles, continuing their horror run in the Queensland hub and placing them 16th on the AFL ladder.

Jamaine Jones made his West Coast debut that game, and Will Schofield was suspended for one match after headbutting Zak Butters.

Tom Barrass took a mark of the year contender, and Luke Shuey injured his hamstring, causing him to miss two games.

[57] The following round, West Coast beat the winless Adelaide by 33 points at the Gabba, in their last game in Queensland before heading home for 7 weeks.

[72] West Coast's first match in their second Queensland hub was against Richmond at Metricon Stadium on Thursday, 27 August.

[73][74][75] The following Tuesday, West Coast faced Essendon, beating them by 15 points, with Liam Ryan kicking four goals.

[76][77] In round 16, after West Coast's second 5 day break in a row, they faced Western Bulldogs, who beat the Eagles in an upset.

[78] West Coast were forced to make 6 player changes for their round 17 game against St Kilda, due to injuries.

At the time, Brendon Ah Chee, Mark Hutchings, Lewis Jetta, Jack Redden, Dom Sheed, Luke Shuey and Elliot Yeo were injured, and Jamie Cripps couldn't be selected for personal reasons.

[81][82][83] West Coast won their round 18 match against North Melbourne by 15 points, giving them a small chance of a top 4 finish,[84] but neither Richmond or Geelong lost their matches,[48] causing West Coast to finish 5th at the end of the season, setting them up for an elimination final against Collingwood.

[93] From rounds 7 to 13, West Coast were back in Perth, playing consecutive games at Optus Stadium.

[101] West Coast negotiated with North Melbourne to buy the rights from them to host their round 18 game in Perth.

[102][103] West Coast went back home for their preliminary final against Collingwood, which they hosted at Optus Stadium.