Wests left grand final day empty handed for the second straight season, following a 29-27 loss to Brothers. 

But coach Elwee Prinsloo remains confident that his squad are pushing closer to another title and said his players are hungrier than ever to taste success after the final game of the season. 

Overview with Elwee Prinsloo: 

“It was another tough end to the season,” Prinsloo said in reflection. 

“In a final, you’ve got to stay sort of 10 points ahead if you want to be in control and we didn’t unfortunately. 

“I thought James O’Connor was no doubt the difference. His kicking game was very good, especially in the first half.  

“They kicked well all game and controlled possession. When we kicked, we gave them too many opportunities to counter attack. The balls they kicked really pinned us down in our own half.  

“From a defensive perspective, if you defend that much in the first half, with a big pack like we’ve got, you’re going to feel it at some stage in the second half.  

“I thought we came home reasonably well and we got it back to six points or so, but the lead was just too big. 

“You’ve got to put things in perspective, don’t you? From a club perspective, I think it was a bloody good season. All of our senior teams and our women were in the finals. 

“Our colts had the best season that they’ve had in a very very long time making the grand final. So I think the club as a whole has been really strong. 

“In saying that, we contest Premier Grade to win premierships and now we’ve played in three consecutive finals, which is no doubt a massive positive.  

“The more finals we play, the law of averages suggest we’re going to win something soon. 

“We’re really happy with the high performance environment we’ve created at the club and we’re in a good place, but at the end of the day mate, we play to win and we want to win championships.”

What is the focus at Wests between now and round one next year? 

“We kicked at 58% this season which was the second worst in the competition. Our line out throwing wasn’t consistent enough either,” the coach said. 

“We need to work on some of those little, core skills that you don’t always get too much time for during the season.

“Restarts are another one. 

“The numbers from this season show us that if we can score back-to-back points twice in a game, we’ve got an 80 percent chance of winning the game. That makes restarts bloody important.”

Which of your players do you think can push on next year? 

“It’s interesting, we’ve got quite a few boys heading down to the Shute Shield. Warringah down there have got into us a little bit. 

“But we’re also picking up quite a few players from the Shute Shield as well. 

“One interesting prospect for us is a kid named Noah Hartley. 

“He hasn’t played too much Premier Grade but he is a hooker and back row option who I call the ‘Honey Badger.’ He is just as tough as nails and I think he could be something at either hooker or No.7.”

What can we expect in 2025?

“We hope we can be competitive again and be up around the top two at the end of the regular season,” Prinsloo said.

“Over the last few years, we’ve been one of the top try scoring teams and we want to stay there. Then we need to keep evolving our set piece and our defence. 

“We want to find new ways to get better as a team and I’m confident we can do that.”