West Coast Eagles WAFL captain Callum Jamieson opens up on decision to stay at club despite AFL de-listing

Callum Jamieson has opened up on his decision to remain with West Coast’s reserves side, despite being de-listed from their AFL program at the end of last season. The luckless 25-year-old, who battled a succession of injuries across his six seasons at the top level, was axed by the Eagles at the conclusion of their 2025 campaign, having not managed to add to his 17 AFL appearances over the course of the year. The Claremont product attracted interest from a number of WAFL sides but instead chose to remain in blue and gold, signing on with the club’s State league program as a top-up player. Jamieson, who lined up in 36 reserves games for West Coast between 2021 and last year and has been appointed as the side’s new captain, told The West Australian his decision to stay at the club was an easy one. “I think I’m a pretty loyal guy. The club gave me a leap of faith when I was 18 and I spent a fair bit of time on the sidelines, so I couldn’t really pay them back,” Jamieson said. “They’ve done a lot for me, the club, so I wanted to come back to try and help out and develop the young boys. “Kyal Horsley coaching down in the WAFL team this year was a massive factor for me coming back as well.” The struggles endured by West Coast’s senior side in recent years have been mirrored at the level below, with the Eagles having finishing the last five WAFL seasons at the foot of the ladder. With Jamieson and West Perth premiership speedster Sasha Kernutt among their additions as top-up players, they had enjoyed a positive off-season, being competitive in a 31-point loss to reigning premiers South Fremantle and launching a late comeback to beat East Fremantle by 17 points in their first two official pre-season games. But they found the going much tougher against Peel Thunder at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday afternoon, suffering a 93-point defeat to an opponent who named 28 players against their 23. Despite the one-sided nature of the result, Jamieson said he was “pretty confident” the days of the West Coast’s up-and-comers finding themselves on the wrong end of thrashings week-after-week had been and gone. “I’m not going to say we’re not going to lose, because we’re still pretty young, but we’ve taken a lot of positive steps forward,” he said. “I’m really excited for the year ahead.” Jamieson, who stands 201cm tall, was drafted out of the Tigers as an 18-year-old in 2019 on the strength of his ruck work. But as both Eagles sides battled for wins across his stint at the club, he was forced into a number of different roles, eventually becoming a full-time key defender. Jamieson said he saw his future being in the backline, where he spent much of both 2024 and 2025. “Being a WAFL player now, I might get chucked around a bit, the AFL boys might take priority and I’m happy with that,” he said. “I like playing down back, I can see myself playing there for the rest of the year. “Hopefully, I cement my spot and play some good games.”