The strong message from West Coast stand-in skipper Liam Baker after disastrous Western Bulldogs defeat

“Enough is enough”. That is the message from West Coast stand-in skipper Liam Baker after their disastrous 94-point defeat to the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Sunday. The Eagles will become the first team in VFL/AFL history to lose 22 games in a season should they fail to upset Sydney in their final game of the season at Optus Stadium on Saturday. Asked how the club’s leaders will ensure the young players do not get too mentally scarred from repeated heavy losses, Baker was strong in his response. “They’ve had a tough run over the past three years. These boys would know more than I would but enough is enough,” he told The West Australian. “No one wants to be losing. Not three years ago, not now. All we can do now is try to finish off the season as strong as we can. “Last week (against Adelaide) was good, (against the Bulldogs) not so good. We need to butter up and go again.” Baker crossed from Richmond at the end of last season in a high-profile trade, returning to Western Australia after seven seasons at the Tigers. Coming from one wooden spoon side to another was never going to be easy, but Baker said: “I knew what I was in for”. “One win in a season is always tough but I feel like we have come a long way. It’s a new coach, a new system. It takes time but then again, it’s not good enough winning one game this season. Hopefully we can make that two next week,” he said. “We do have a young list but it’s no excuse. It’s not just going to happen with age, we have to get to work. And it’s good seeing the best players in the comp and the way they go about it. “Everyone’s different. The more we can learn off them as individuals and as teams, the better we’ll be.” The Eagles have only days left in their horror season, but Baker said it would be easy to keep the young group on task despite the end being near. “It’s just the motivation of getting around each other during the week, preparing perfectly for the week to actually give ourselves a chance to win a game of footy,” he said. “Anyone can beat anyone so we need to prepare the best way we can, so that’s the motivation. “We don’t want to limp to the line, we want to have a crack next week. And a good brand of footy can get a win for us.”