West Coast recruit Harry Schoenberg on why he deserves a second chance at Eagles after crossing from Adelaide

A vulnerable and honest Harry Schoenberg has opened up on a frustrating final season at Adelaide and why he feels he deserves another chance in the AFL after receiving a rookie lifeline from West Coast. Schoenberg landed at the Eagles as one of three mature-age recruits through the pre-season supplemental period, joining former Brisbane midfielder Deven Robertson and Collingwood first-round draftee Finlay Macrae as rookies. The 24-year-old played 62 games for the Crows in six seasons after being drafted with pick No.24 in the 2019 draft. However, Schoenberg managed only five appearances in the past two seasons as he fell out of favour in the minor premiers’ midfield after rupturing his Achilles in the last game of 2023. Schoenberg’s inability to break into the side on a regular basis was no fault of his own, with the burly midfielder averaging 24 disposals and six clearances last year for Adelaide’s SANFL side last season. And this resilience is why the man from country Adelaide says he believes his second chance at an AFL career is well earned. “I feel like I deserve this and feel throughout last year at times when I was probably struggling and thinking why am I not getting a game? And why is this happening? Now all of a sudden I get an opportunity at West Coast and I feel like I can confidently continue my form and offer something for West Coast,” Schoenberg told The West Australian. “It challenges you mentally. Every person that’s playing in the twos goes through that situation but it strengthened my belief. “I stuck to the process, I could’ve easily walked away. I could’ve easily not been playing good footy in the SANFL and that would’ve not led to me getting an opportunity here at West Coast. “That was the big thing — I kept playing consistent footy, kept putting in the work every day of the week and kept putting my hand up for selection because it only takes one injury. “I probably said that to myself throughout the whole year — it only takes one injury or someone to maybe not play as well and it didn’t fall my way, but now that I’m here at West Coast that hard work throughout the year definitely paid off.” A midfielder out of Woodville West-Torrens, Schoenberg admitted that when he was drafted to the Crows he believed it would be where he would spend his entire career. “Once you get drafted, you think you’re going to be there for 10 to 15 years and play your whole career there. Obviously, it was disappointing. I loved my time at the Crows and I’m grateful for them to give me an opportunity when I was 18,” he said. “It was a tough time. I was very connected with the group, very connected with all the coaches and that’s probably the hard part of it all, but clubs always have to make moves to make more list room for draft picks. “Nicksy (Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks) and I sat down and had a good chat. He didn’t apologise, but he said he was happy for what I’ve achieved over the six years but unfortunately it didn’t fall my way in terms of me staying on the list. He wished me all the best.” However, if Nicks’ prediction about Schoenberg ahead of his debut in 2020 is correct, the midfielder is set to add plenty to West Coast in 2026. “If you’re talking a weapon, what you see there is a really natural footballer and he’s got some explosive power,” Nicks said at the time. And it is this explosive power that Schoenberg hopes to bring alongside the likes of Harley Reid, Elliot Yeo, Tim Kelly and Elijah Hewett in the Eagles’ engine room. “I’m open to play any position Mini (coach Andrew McQualter) would like me to play, but I feel like I play my best footy as an explosive midfielder who is good in the contest, good in the clearance and can use his clean hands to give to the outside,” he said. “That’s something I want to keep developing, that’s my strength and that’s something I can offer to the West Coast midfield. “It’s only been two weeks, Yeoy has been on the track, Jack Graham as well, he’s very experienced and had some success. Learning off those two and we’ve got Dev Robertson, Fin Macrae who have also come in and then likes of Harley Reid and even Willem Duursma. It’s very exciting times and I am looking forward to what we can do and achieve.” Schoenberg is coming from a club that just finished on top of the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season to the one-win Eagles who claimed a third wooden spoon in their history. However, he has first-hand experience of what it’s like to go from the bottom to the top, with the Crows having finished 18th in his first season but slowly rising to become a powerhouse. And Schoenberg said he could see similarities at the Eagles as they looked to follow in the same path. “What attracts me (to West Coast) is the younger group, we’ve got a lot of young talent and there’s a lot of similarities to the Crows,” he said. “When I first started there we were on the bottom of the ladder and had a lot of young players, but we were able to build that connection and finish top of the ladder last season. “That’s what excites me the most, I can see that in this group. We’ve got a lot of young fellas, young talent and a lot of people that want to train hard and I think that’s where we can go in the next couple of years.”