Footy can be a fickle game.

Three weeks ago West Coast were accused of tanking, now they are a crazy mathematical chance to make the AFL finals.

The Eagles notched their third win on the trot and boosted their win-loss record to 7-13 with a 38-point triumph over North Melbourne at Subiaco Oval on Saturday.

Port Adelaide currently occupy eighth spot with just nine wins to their name.

In reality, for West Coast to make the eight they would need more than the planets to realign.

But it has led some to ponder what might have been had the Eagles not let several winnable games slip through their grasp.

The Eagles would have beaten Fremantle in both derbies this season if not for some atrocious kicking on goal, while West Coast also stuttered to defeats against Brisbane in round one, Hawthorn in round five and Sydney in round eight after being in winning positions.

But West Coast coach John Worsfold refused to dwell on the what ifs.

Instead, the premiership coach is looking forward to what lies ahead for his developing list.

"Every game you think you are a chance of winning and when you lose is disappointing, so you can't sit back at the end of the year and say 'what if'," Worsfold said.

"You cop what you cop and you are as good as how good you are.

"We know we've still got plenty of work to do and it's a credit to the players they've maintained their intensity and motivation to improve.

"They were challenged with that going back about four weeks ago and they've really stepped up to that challenge.

"I think our improvement from this year to last year is fairly obvious and we have to make sure that we can improve that much again going forward into next season."

West Coast youngsters Nic Naitanui, Scott Selwood, Brad Ebert, Mitchell Brown, Tim Houlihan, Patrick McGinnity and Tom Swift have come on in leaps and bounds this season.

But Worsfold said those young players couldn't afford to rest on their laurels.

"It's exciting to see them coming along at the rate you hoped they would," Worsfold said.

"But they need to keep improving.

"I think our big name players are playing well as well but we've got a lot of developing players in the team."

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