West Coast Eagles star Elliot Yeo aims to help young group return to finals over next three seasons

Elliot Yeo says he wants to help West Coast return to finals as he helps usher in a new generation down at Lathlain. Yeo, 30, re-signed until the end of 2027 earlier this year, ending months of speculation with several clubs interested in recruiting the then free agent. The dual John Worsfold medallist is touted as a vital part of the Eagles’ rebuild as not only an inside midfielder but a mentor to the next wave of Eagles including No.1 draftee Harley Reid. Yeo and Reid have become almost inseparable on the field as master and apprentice, with the most noticeable example coming in the round 20 western derby when the latter pulled the teenager away from a melee. Yeo said opposition teams were doing their best to get to Reid both physically and psychologically after a hot start to his career. “Most teams try to get him off his game … whether that’s getting in his ear or trying to get into a scrap or whatnot,” Yeo said. “The biggest thing Harley’s got is he’s super competitive, he just wants to win and at the end of the day I feel like there’s times where you’ve got to put your arm around him and say ‘Hey mate, we need your energy to actually try to win us the game than wrestling and scrapping’. “He’s just a young kid, he’s learning his way but the best part about it is he’s super competitive and he wants to learn. He wants to get better. He wants to win, it’s an exciting time to be part of the group.” Yeo said the young talent around the club had lifted the energy in the locker room. “They’ve just got so much energy and it takes you back to when you were a kid and (were) bouncing off the walls,” Yeo said. “It sort of helped me a little bit getting a little bit older. It’s a lot of fun and when you’ve got talented young kids around you as well that you can see where things are going to start to head, it’s good to be a part of. “For me it’s fun to be around, they’re good listeners. They’re trying to compete and get the best out of themselves. You can certainly see where things are heading and the past couple of weeks as well have shown that there’s positive signs.” Yeo said while a second premiership would be the dream, helping the Eagles back to finals for the first time since 2020 was his goal over the next three years. “To play finals footballs helps galvanise and build the group very quickly,” Yeo said. “Finals football is a different brand of football … the ultimate is to win a grand final but the more finals you can play I think the better off you are in terms of winning that. “That showed throughout 2015, 2016 and 2017 for us as a playing group and then we went on to 2018 which helped phenomenally.”