By Sunday afternoon, Donna Cole had watched the replay of the AFL grand final "gazillion times".

With each replay the emotion and excitement of watching her son Tom help the West Coast Eagles defeat Collingwood in one of the greatest grand finals of all time didn't subside.

"It's unbelievable to think that Tom's now played in a grand final and he has a big, gold medal hanging around his neck,'' Donna Cole said on Sunday.

"It was such an intense game. I felt as though I'd played the game."

Donna and her daughters Brittany, Gabrielle and Darcey sat on the edge of their seats as the grand final went down to the wire.

"It was extremely emotional. We were sitting in a dominant West Coast area which was fantastic,'' Donna said. 

"When the final siren went there were tears everywhere."

Only two hours earlier the Eagles were five goals behind and the Cole family feared the worst.

"I was trying not to think too much.

"My son-in-law kept saying that we were going to be okay, so I was hoping that he knew what he was walking about.

"I was just praying that it wasn't a repeat of the Collingwood-Richmond game the week before.

"It turned out to be real nail-biter."

Donna and the family joined Tom and the Eagles at the aftermatch function at Crown.

"The function was amazing,'' she said.

"Just before the end of the function they replayed the final two minutes of the game and had the volume as high as it could be.

"Everyone relived the moment and when the siren sounded it was just like it was at the ground.

"It was a fabulous night."

Donna said the enormity of winning an AFL premiership slowly sunk in with Tom as the night wore on.

"It seemed every 45 minutes or so Tommy would stop and the realisation of what they'd achieved would sink in,'' she said.

"At the start of the year no-one rated them. Within the media different peoiple have said they have a culture problem.

"I know from my experience around the club that's there's anything but (a culture problem).

"I'm not sure whether the boys used that as motivation or not."

Donna doesn't expect to hear from Tom "for a few days" as the Eagles hit party mode in Perth.

"The club's presentation night is on Thursday, so I'm expecting everyone will need to be healthy for that."