Shuey opens up the West Coast fitness bouts

“I think[we’re]undoubtedly fitter than we’ve been in the last four or five years,” Shuey said.

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“Our strength and conditioning team did a great job and put together a program that was different than in previous years.

“The playgroup was certainly more ambitious. More numbers trained together every week.”

Shuey was 20 years old when West Coast collected the wooden spoon in 2010.

The Eagles rebounded by reaching the preliminary finals the following year.

Shuey says recent examples of Sydney and Collingwood bouncing off the end of the table have also raised hopes of a quick turnaround.

“For various reasons, we weren’t competitive last year, and it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions at various times — embarrassed, disappointed, angry, frustrated,” Shuey said.

“For some of these boys who came through, there was no tougher introduction than last year. They will learn from this and play a lot of football for the football club in the years to come.

“It’s a similar start that some of us had in 2009/10 when we grabbed the spoon. I think it’s a blessing in disguise to be exposed to something like this at a young age.