West Coast ruckman Matt Flynn says Eagles must lift in all departments before 2026

West Coast ruckman Matt Flynn says the Eagles will “get to work” in the off-season “to lift the standards of the club”.

“From myself, through every player in the club, through the coaching staff, all the people off-field, everyone’s got to lift their standards,” Flynn said after the Eagles bowed out of a one-win season with a 67-point defeat to Sydney at Optus Stadium.

“Fitness, strength, mindset — and we are doing a bit of work on our mental skills — there’s a lot of little things we can improve one or two per cent and in the AFL that can bump you up.

‘We’ll get a core group together and train hard, lean on players like Jack Graham, Reuben Ginbey, Liam Duggan, who know how to train. Get around those fellas who will show everyone how hard you have to train.”

“It’s a bloody hard game, and some people are still not used to it, and haven’t been around it a lot.”

Flynn said the Eagles’ problems stem from “a little bit of everything”.

“Youth is in there somewhere, but you can’t hang your hat on that. It’s a bit of a cop-out in a sense to just say youth,” Flynn said.

“There’s probably a bit of intent there, a bit of mindset. And then I also think it’s just understanding that it takes a four-quarter effort.”

The Eagles became the first team to have 22 losses in a season and Flynn said the players were hurting and desperate to improve.

The 27-year-old celebrated two individual milestones this year, his 18 games the most he has played in a season. He also brought up his 50th game in a career that has been plagued by injuries.

“It was nice to get some continuity. It’s obviously been frustrating. This year I think I’ve had patches of good footy and then I fall out of games and then come back,” he said.

“I’d love to get some consistency within games. So I guess that’s the next step for me, but to get the 18 games under my belt this year is the most I’ve ever played, so I’ll take that.

“A lot of people might look at 50 games and think it’s not that much, but a lot of players don’t get there and so you soak it up when you get them. It was awesome to share that moment with my family and my partner.”

Flynn will head to Europe for a break and then get to work on his fitness.

“I’ll find a personal trainer and do some running sessions on the side. I have always done that and a lot of the other players do that as well,” he said.

He said the Sydney game summed up the season, with an impressive first half followed by a second-half letdown.

“We’re working on a lot at the moment. In the first half, it was exactly how we want to play. The pressure was really high. We took the ball through the corridor. We were really brave with that ball movement and the young players showed their skill,” Flynn said.

“And then in the last half, we just weren’t able to do that. They stifled our ball movement, our pressure came off. We went away from the way we wanted to play. It’s frustrating to end the year on that note, but it’s really promising to see some good signs in there as well.”

Flynn was up against one of the All-Australian fancies, Brodie Grundy, who had 50 hit-outs.

“He’s a superstar. He’s definitely in the top three in the competition. (Max) Gawn and (Tristan) Xerri are probably the front runners. So whoever makes it is deserving. He (Grundy) has been a great player for a long time, so it’s good to go up against a person of his calibre,” Flynn said.

He paid tribute to young Eagles forward Jobe Shanahan, who equalled his best haul of three goals in his debut season.

“He’s going to be amazing. He’s got the frame to be an absolute superstar of the competition,” Flynn said.

“He moves well, has sticky mitts. I’m really excited about Jobe and to see him recommit to the club for another two years was amazing. I can’t wait to see what he can do.”