The Eagles went all-in and then stood still. It set Simpson up to fail… but he’s not blameless

 

Adam Simpson is not blameless, but the departure of the West Coast premiership coach has much more to do with a series of unfortunate decisions by the club than him.

Simpson and the Eagles “mutually agreed” to part ways on Tuesday, a sudden yet inevitable decision which seemed to gain quick momentum over the last week.

A story in The West Australian, detailing text messages from the playing group calling for change, was declared “a bit grubby” by Simpson – mostly because he knows any footy club, even the most successful one, will feature players who are disconnected from the coach, whether because of personal dynamics or just because they’re not playing senior footy.

Notably however Simpson did not deny the story, saying: “It’s not ideal, but it’s not uncommon either.”

Yet a poor loss to Melbourne, where the Eagles were blown out of the water in the first quarter and then steadied somewhat (though the game remained out of reach), appears to have accelerated the call.

“I don’t know how shocked everyone is to be honest, there’s been a fair bit of tension in the last couple of years, in particular the last couple of weeks,” Simpson conceded on Tuesday.

July is prime time for coach departures because it gives a struggling footy club time to scout out replacements and test their internal options – the likes of current assistant Jarrad Schofield and assistant/ex-Essendon boss Matthew Knights – when the results are effectively irrelevant.

And the Eagles will not have a lot of competition for their main targets, favourite sons like Jaymie Graham (currently at Fremantle), Dean Cox (Sydney) and Ashley Hansen (Carlton), given they are the first club to market.

Timing is everything. But poor timing is what got Simpson sacked in the first place.

Coming out of the 2018 premiership, the Eagles understandably felt their window was open and had the ideal recruit in mind – mature-aged Geelong draftee Tim Kelly, who had two brilliant seasons in the hoops after being picked out of the WAFL.

West Coast’s midfield was its weakest component in 2018, with the exception of a month-long explosion which happened to take place in September, and Kelly (24 at the time) seemed the perfect inclusion.

But the Cats held firm, rejecting the contracted Kelly’s request to return home in 2018 – reportedly seeking picks 20 and 22 plus the Eagles’ 2019 first-rounder – before getting a marginally stronger haul of picks in 2019, including two first-rounders.

Signing a six-year deal worth over $4 million, Kelly was supposed to be the man to put West Coast over the top. Without him in 2019, the premiers had finished fifth (just percentage out of the top four), falling to Kelly’s Cats in an away semi-final.

It was a result that suggested the window was still ajar. And then came Covid.

‘There’s guys who’ll say thank god’ | 01:29

 

Arguably no club struggled through the pandemic more than West Coast, dealing with the Queensland hub used to complete the 2020 season poorly. While they again finished fifth, a Mason Cox masterclass in what should’ve been a massively advantageous game – a true home elimination final – saw 8th-placed Collingwood knock them out.

Midway through the 2021 season the Eagles again appeared to be contenders, sitting percentage out of third at 6-3 after nine rounds, but Father Time had struck. Their core of veteran talent, often injury-ridden even during their premiership peak, was not enough to keep them up. They fell out of the top eight after Round 21 and have not been back since.

We are not criticising the decision to try and win another premiership. Flags fly forever and winning a second would’ve made Simpson a modern coaching great.

But the year’s delay in adding Kelly didn’t help matters, and by the time he came on board, the club’s core was both expensive and getting old. It wasn’t just the salary issues though; it was the picks.

Combined with some 2018 dealing, the Eagles did not take a single top-25 pick in the 2018-20 drafts, and their highest selection between 2019-20 was Callum Jamieson at No.49.

This created a serious hole of missing young talent on their list, exacerbated by poor results in previous drafts. 2015’s top pick was traded for Jack Redden, 2016’s was used on Daniel Venables who had to medically retire early, and 2017’s was used on Jarrod Brander; the Venables situation was out of their control, and both he and Redden were part of the 2018 premiership side, but none of those picks gave the Eagles the type of foundational piece you want and need.

It was this series of recruiting failures which set up West Coast for the worst three years in club history, between 2022 and now. A combination of Covid and injuries ruined the former two seasons, and Simpson was understandably given a long leash during this period – not even the greatest coach in sports history could’ve led those ravaged Eagles sides to success.

Adam Simpson went from premiership coach to leading an absolute rabble.Source: FOX SPORTS
The problem was the glacial speed at which West Coast moved to solve this obvious list flaw.

You cannot completely tear down a list and trade out every veteran player with currency in the AFL; players can resist trades and there is a growing consensus that keeping at least some notable players around to help shepherd the kids is healthy. Look at Harley Reid starring in the midfield with Elliot Yeo this year as a prime example.

But there is a difference between rebuilding at a healthy pace and doing nothing. The Eagles were way too close to the latter.

In 2021, the Eagles seemed to feel like they would bounce back once footy (and the world) gained a sense of normality, and did not make major changes.

There was no attempt to trade heavily into the draft; they only had Pick 12 due to their mid-table finish, and did trade down at the draft, but only two spots. Swapping 12 for Port Adelaide’s 14 and a future second gave them Campbell Chesser, who has not done much at AFL level, while that future pick ended up getting involved in the big deal they did make.

Having earned Pick 2 with their horrific 2022 campaign, the Eagles split the pick as part of the Jason Horne-Francis mega-deal, gaining picks 8 and 12 – which became Reuben Ginbey at 9, and Elijah Hewett at 14. This made all the sense in the world and gave them arguably the top two WA prospects in the draft pool.

But for Simpson, this was too little too late. Another awful season followed, until the Eagles were blessed with Pick 1 and the rights to Harley Reid, after North Melbourne decided to actually beat Gold Coast in the final round.

Reid is inarguably one of the most exciting prospects in recent AFL history but his presence alone does not make a rebuild successful. The Eagles did not select again after Reid until pick 30 – you could certainly argue trading down would’ve been worse because of how good he is, but they had to do something to gather more young talent.

Harley Reid is incredible, but he alone cannot make a rebuild successful. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
For comparison’s sake, North Melbourne has taken eight picks in the top 20 in the last four drafts (though this is helped by trading out one of them, Horne-Francis, for two more the next year).

Many of the Eagles’ big names have departed over the last few years, most via retirement, but the likes of Jack Darling, Andrew Gaff and Dom Sheed are no longer contributing at a high level. You cannot force them to leave, and they may not have gathered a massive return, but these are the types of moves hardened footy clubs make to accelerate a rebuild.

Instead the club sat on its hands and it led to the current, poor situation.

No coach was going to survive such a horrible run of form – 10 wins and 60 losses with an average losing margin of 53 points since the 2021 bye.

Make no mistake, it’s all of those losses that got Simpson sacked. They went all-in with Tim Kelly, and then immediately went “woah woah woah, hang on, that was a bit much wasn’t it?” and didn’t make the appropriate steps the other way.

In a way it is strange that Simpson is being sacked now, and not at the end of 2023 when he was also under intense pressure, but the club gave him the appropriate level of respect and stood by him. His exit feels more to do with Simpson knowing the time had come than anything else.

He deserves credit for his strategic expertise and two Grand Final appearances; he is one of the club’s great coaches.

But he’s not completely blameless in this situation either; his time in charge means he had a heavy hand in the club’s decisions. He was not a passenger and there were week-to-week decisions involving the use of veterans as compared to younger players who need AFL game-time that can be criticised.

Those are relatively minor concerns compared to the broader, full-club strategy which led one of the game’s most powerful entities to this low ebb.

West Coast will rise again. It is too rich, too powerful and too big of a draw for talent to remain down the bottom.

There were moments in 2024 where the rebuild looked to be accelerating, most notably the big home win over Melbourne, but that just makes a pretty anonymous loss to the Demons being Simpson’s final chapter ironic.

His reputation will survive the last few years; especially if the Eagles’ climb back to relevancy takes as long as it may.