Eagles ‘in transition’ but still need experienced players: Simpson
West Coast coach Adam Simpson says he won’t be dumping his senior, experienced players to rebuild the Eagles list this season.
The Eagles were thrashed by 109 points on Friday night by Richmond. The loss follows defeats to Sydney by 63 points and Port Adelaide by 84 points.
Eagles coach Adam Simpson.Credit:AFL Photos/Getty Images
But the Eagles had 10 premiership stars in the 23 on Friday night. They include former captain Shannon Hurn and fellow defender Jeremy McGovern, forwards Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling, and midfielders Luke Shuey and Andrew Gaff.
Simpson said there would be plenty of chances for his club’s young brigade to step up into the team if they warranted it, but he wouldn’t be culling their most senior players for the sake of it.
“There’s no doubt we’re in transition. But we still need leadership,” Simpson said.
“We still need JK [Kennedy] at the moment, we still need Shannon Hurn. And there are plenty of room for our kids.
“We’ve exposed 37 players this year and five WAFL players. There are going to be plenty of opportunities to get games into some of our younger players and see where they’re at.
“We’ll see what we can do to assess our list in the next 15 weeks … and we’ll get a pretty clear picture of where we’re at by the end of the year.”
Simpson said he wouldn’t be making excuses for his side’s poor form. He said the Eagles butchered the ball, had a lack of supply going forward and conceded way too many inside-50s.
“This hasn’t been just tonight. It’s been here for most of the year,” he said.
“We’re really disappointed. We’re really disappointed for our fans and members who came and watched us tonight.
“[Richmond] got on top in the midfield and then got really brave, and they put us to the sword.
“No one wants to be in this situation, so we’ve got to own it, accept it and get better.”
Simpson said it would take time for his side to turn around its form.
“There is going to be criticism, and we deserve it,” he said.
“We need to keep ourselves tight.
“It’s not going to happen in one week. We’ve got a lot of work in front of us. We’re on a path and there’s going to be a little bit of pain. We’ve got to look for some small wins in the next few weeks.”
On the injury front, Simpson said he hoped Willie Rioli’s hamstring concern was simply a corkie, while Tom Barrass appears to have suffered a minor hamstring injury late which would hopefully see him miss no more than one week. The Eagles face Brisbane in the Lion’s home city and then Melbourne in a tough fortnight.
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