SUNS AFLW Head Coach Cameron Joyce is confident in his side’s chances to respond this week after a competitive match against the GWS Giants in Round 1.

Border restrictions in place for Western Australia mean the SUNS will take on the West Coast Eagles at VU Whitten Oval in Victoria, a venue neither side has played at previously.

Joyce said his message in this week’s review had stemmed from the positive first two quarters of Round 1 which saw a number of opportunities in the forward half of the ground for the SUNS.

“We've had seven shots at goal in the first half and I think there's only four other teams in the competition in the first round that have had seven or more shots in a half of footy,” Joyce said.

“So from that, it's what do we do to be able to get to that situation?

“We've got some really strong training focuses this week around our ability to move the footy and our contest work, so we'll double down on that and look to go deeper and deeper into games playing the way we want to play.”

The Eagles’ Round 1 performance mirrored that of the SUNS’, pushing Fremantle in the opening half before the Dockers kicked away to a comfortable lead.

Joyce said his team had to be wary of the Eagles who outlasted the SUNS by a single point the last time the two sides met in Round 5 of 2021.

“From last year to this year they seem to have improved again,” Joyce said.

“They’ve got some strong runners around the footy, they've got some options up forward to really kick the footy to.

“They've recruited a couple of players too that I think would have added to them.

“We're under no illusions that they certainly seem to have improved and we've got to be on our game to be able to beat him this week.”

The fixture will be the first time two interstate teams have played from premiership points in Victoria.

Teams for the match will be revealed on Saturday at 4:30pm AEST, with first bounce at 11:40am AEST on Sunday.