West Coast interim coach Jarrad Schofield on his first win at the helm

But he said the 10-point come-from-behind win was the reason he put his hand up for the job in the first place.

The Eagles ended the Suns chances of playing finals this season, coming from 23 points behind to pinch their first victory since Adam Simpson and the club parted ways after the round 17 loss to Melbourne.

It was the Eagles first win since beating the Demons in round 10.

Schofield, who has coached for four games, said he was focussed on his job of making the players better.

“Wins and losses, I don’t know if they’ll mount up or not in terms of whether I’m endorsed or, you know, there’s a greater opportunity,” he said after the win.

“But what I do know is it just solidifies why I coach, why I accepted the opportunity to step up as interim.

“I’m here to try and help the team be better. And hopefully I’m doing that.

“When you’re in this seat, it gets exciting. And when you see the players get their reward for their hard work, you see the fans that turn out over the last two and a half years get excited about what we’re chasing.

“We talk about our identity, that’s the fulfillment part of why you coach, and that’s why I’m enjoying being in this seat at the moment.”

When the game was up for grabs, the Eagles were the team that looked like finals were on the line.

In the fourth term, they won contested possessions and put on more tackles.

They went forward 12 times to kick 4.3.

The Suns went forward nine times and managed only 1.2.

Leaders Jeremy McGovern (11 possessions), Tim Kelly (10), Jamie Cripps (nine) and Elliot Yeo (nine) led the way in the fourth quarter.

While Cripps, Liam Ryan and co-captains Oscar Allen and Liam Duggan all kicked goals.

They produced what Schofield, and Simpson before him, have been seeking.

“We’ve shown bits of that throughout our last two seasons, especially this year,” Schofield said.

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“We haven’t been able to do it for longer. I’ve really just been trying to show them over the last three weeks, the affirmation around when we do it well, what it looks like and what we get in return.

“The game shows you that the teams that are at the top of the ladder do it for longer. The game is built around contests and pressure.

“So, when we double down on just some simple KPIs and some simple focuses, and we get players to commit to it and buy into it, well then we get what we got tonight and that was a win.”