West Coast defender Reuben Ginbey is confident the club has the nucleus to contend for premiership success in the not-too-distant future and he hopes Harley Reid will be along for the ride.
Just days after an unruly football fan threw a lemon at him, Ginbey signed a three-year extension with the Eagles on Wednesday, tying him to the club until the end of 2030.
The 21-year-old has established himself as one of the best key defenders in the league over the past 18 months, with coach Andrew McQualter declaring Ginbey deserves to be in the All-Australian team this year.
West Coast possess the youngest and least experienced list in the AFL.
But after posting just 11 wins across the previous four seasons, the Eagles have shown big signs of improvement this year to be 4-8 after 12 rounds.
They have a big chance at win No.5 when they host struggling Port Adelaide on Saturday night.
No.1 draft pick Willem Duursma, Josh Lindsay, Jobe Shanahan, Cooper Duff-Tytler and Archer Reid are among the emerging stars at West Coast, and Ginbey is predicting big things for the future.
Reubs is locked in until 2030 😎
— West Coast Eagles (@WestCoastEagles) June 3, 2026
The West Coast Eagles have secured a key pillar of the Club's future with star defender Reuben Ginbey signing a three-year contract extension.
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"Yeah, definitely," Ginbey replied when asked if he thought the Eagles possess the nucleus to take them to a flag before his new contract runs out in 2030.
"I think the promising signs we've shown ... it can only get better from here.
"We're about halfway through the season now, and four wins - we'll definitely take that. There's probably a few more games we should have won, or were really in, which is promising signs as well."
Harley Reid is contracted until the end of 2028, and the Eagles are desperate to keep the midfield superstar for the long term.
"He loves it here, and I love playing with him as well," Ginbey said.
"He's been such a great guy. Obviously, the footy he's playing is the best footy we've seen from him.
"He's aggressive, he plays on the line, but he also has his teammates' back, so that's what we love about him."
Ginbey was hit on the hand by a lemon just seconds after the final siren of last week's 30-point win over Essendon.
"It didn't hurt or anything, but it's just a shock," he said.
"Like I felt something hit me and it was a lemon. I rolled it back to the crowd.
"It was lucky it didn't hit me on the head or on the eye. It didn't bother me personally, but we don't want things being thrown by the crowd, especially hard things like lemons."
Meanwhile, Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr says captain Connor Rozee, who ruptured his left hamstring in round two, is still having nerve issues from the injury and may require another round of surgery.
"He's still getting some opinions on it," Carr said.
"He's had a couple. We'll go to Melbourne next week, seek some more opinions, and then we'll go from there.
"We'll be definitely cautious with what that (his return) looks like. We want Connor back playing his best football,.
"We've obviously got to make the right call when it comes to the nerve, and whether we go in there and do something, or we let it heal itself."
