“I’m really happy with my decision”: Why premiership Tiger Baker chose to join West Coast

Dual premiership Tiger and WA native Liam Baker got his trade wish to join West Coast on the final day of the 2024 Trade Period.

After requesting a trade home, Baker had both Perth clubs chasing him but ultimately chose to become an Eagle.

The former Tiger joined the club in exchange for Pick 14 in the upcoming AFL draft. West Coast also received Matt Owies from Carlton, Pick 12 and 73, but had to let go of Pick 3 to get the deal done.

With the deal officially finalised, Baker was asked why he chose West Coast for a new start. 

“I was thinking about what I wanted out of the last bit of my career and to go to a team that’s finding their feet now and has a lot of work to do, and I just want to be a part of that, starting from the bottom and seeing where we can get to," he said on SEN WA Breakfast.

“I like getting challenged, and I feel like I need another one, although it was challenging at Richmond still, hopefully looking back in a few years, we’re playing in some bigger games in September, and I can feel like I’ve made the right call, but I’m really happy with my decision.”

Baker was asked about the timing of his announcement to pick West Coast as his desired club just minutes after Andrew McQualter, who spent 10 years at Richmond, was appointed as the Eagles' new coach.

“I made my mind up the week before that, but I have been speaking to him along the lines, and I pretty much said to him that if he got the job I would be coming there with him," Baker said.

"It just worked out the timing like that and I’ve got a lot of respect for him, and I think he can do a very good job at the Eagles.”

Baker, who has played various positions at Richmond, expects to play most of his footy down back at West Coast but is happy to play wherever McQualter needs him.

“I’m leaning towards more backline and maybe in the midfield, but there are already a lot of good mids at West Coast already, so it’s about balance, and I'll fit in wherever I need to," he said.

Another player who's joined the Eagles this off-season is his former Richmond teammate Jack Graham. After Graham was pictured with young star Harley Reid, Baker says that he has also met up with the budding Eagles superstar.

"Yeah, I was actually with them just before that, but I didn’t get to make Harley’s Instagram, and I was a bit flat,” he said jokingly.

“I did catch up with them last week, and he seems like a really good kid from the times I've met him, so I’m looking forward to getting to know him as he’s a country boy from Victoria away from home, and I can relate a lot to what he’s going through.”

Baker was then asked about how hard the decision was to leave Richmond after their successes and to come home.

“It was tough, I always wanted to come back home and always dreamt of playing footy back in WA in front of friends and family," he said.

“It was more I wanted to do it, but it was coming to terms with it, and that took the whole year pretty much, and Blair Hartley our list manager was very good you can go in there and be honest with him and tell him what you actually think and he’s happy to talk you through it.”

Coming from playing in front of a passionate fan base at Richmond, Baker expects something similar at West Coast following the reaction to his decision to join the club.

“It was a bit of a Welcome to West Coast this is what you’re in for, you’ve sort of just got to laugh it off, they’re passionate, and that’s partly why I always liked them growing up because of how supported they were,” he said.

“I came into the league with a chip on my shoulder wanting to prove people wrong, and it seems like it’s a bit like that now, but it’s my job now to hold up the bargain and play good footy over the next few years, and I’ll be putting everything into that.”