West Coast coach John Worsfold has declared that a victory over the Kangaroos this weekend would certainly be welcome but warned it would not necessarily be the break the Eagles needed to turn their entire season around.
In a relaxed and jovial mood, Worsfold said he expected his charges to have learned from the past seven weeks and believed they had addressed some of reasons why the 2007 finalists have lost their last six matches to slump to 15th on the ladder.
"(We're) one win from actually singing the team song, that's a start," said Worsfold at Subiaco on Wednesday. "And, then we will take it from there."
"That doesn't guarantee the season turning around or a string of wins, all it guarantees is that you get those four points and next week's challenge starts," he said.
Worsfold said the grueling trip to face North Melbourne at the Gold Coast's Carrara Stadium - one of the longest road trips in the AFL - held no fears for the Eagles and that he believed his side would treat the encounter like any other clash despite not having played at the ground since the early 1990s when Worlsfold was a rampaging force in the West Coast backline.
"(There's) grass, goalposts; hopefully we defend one set and attack the other set pretty hard," joked Worsfold.
"There was (also) a good atmosphere," he reminisced. "I think there used to be a Ferris wheel and all sorts of things happening."
"(But) once the game starts it (the venue) really makes no difference to the way the ball bounces or how you attack the contests. We play preseason games in Alice Springs and all round the place and there's no reason to expect your players to perform any differently," he said.
After several of the losses this season have been caused by one poor quarter of footy, Worsfold said the Eagles would be looking at maintaining their intensity for the entire game and also stopping the opposition run-ons, like Carlton's second quarter effort in their round seven clash, that have cost the club dearly during this campaign.
"Our starts have been okay," said Worsfold. "The key for us is to maintain our confidence and our belief throughout the whole game. Not let a run on become irretrievable so the players are certainly aware of that."
"Our focus is on just having a more consistent performance throughout the game; a good start and then holding on and playing solid throughout the four quarters."
"We've got strategies we've put in place (to stop run-ons). The players are aware of what they are and we've already talked about the potential for that to happen and how the players, what the mentality is about dealing with that out on the ground," he said.
Without the suspended Daniel Kerr, the Eagles' midfield could be boosted by the return of Matt Priddis for Saturday's clash.
Fourth in last season's best and fairest, Priddis's 2008 has been curtailed by a knee injury. However, the midfielder trained comfortably on Monday night and will be selected if he gets through Wednesday night's training run.
The Eagles will also probably include dropped Premiership ruckman Mark Seaby in the side as they look to combat North's ruck duo of David Hale and Ashley McIntosh, while Worsfold believed Ashley Hansen could be considered for selection despite the forward still suffering from a niggling groin injury.
The coach also declared that Claremont key defender Beau Wilkes could possibly make the Eagles' side for the Kangaroos game, while adding that highly-rated young midfielder Tim Houlihan could be in with a chance of coming into the team over the next few weeks.