All Eagles games season 2023

[HH]

We are well on our way to our next spoon.

We got four wins with our 2010 spoon. Hard to see this team getting another three wins.

[jourgo]

Well on what I've seen so far, we're spoonbound.

I hate being right.

And Simpson will not see out the season.

Still stand by this too.

[Bigbird]

Been a while since I've felt the need to have a voice, but I have been lurking here on and off since my last post....whenever that was.

You guys probably know a lot more than me about footy, our players, and the club. I can't get to the games - so my opinions are generally formed from the narrow vision delivered through the TV. I think it was last week I read something noting that attendance was down. As soon as the club's bottom line starts being impacted by performance...someone, somewhere, will start asking questions. I guess it's usually the board or executives of the club. Throw in another insipid, uninspiring, effortless loss against a club we would expect to be competitive against....and well it's only a matter of time before the articles start appearing calling for Simpson's head on a pole. We all know what happens when that pressure mounts and the external voices gain momentum. So I thought it timely to pipe up with a few words "before you sack the coach".

I think the first thing to note is that if we had anything resembling our best team available, we would be more competitive and probably be winning games. It's hard to say how many....but pre-season I believed that if we stayed fit we might finish 12th-14th. Let's say, 7-8 wins. I think that's reasonable if we have our senior players fit and firing - allowing us to also rotate some of the younger blokes. Player availability, for the most part, is out of Simpsons' control - so we have to take that into account.

I would like to ask the question about why we have suffered so many injuries. It's not just this year or last. I don't have the data to find out if it's soft tissue, impact, or another category that is dominating...but we seem to have had issues since 2019. I recall discussions around the Optus playing surface, then Lathlain. We've bought in Mark Kilgallon - and perhaps the pre-season results can be accredited to him. The players quickly broke down again though. Maybe it will take another pre-season or two to get that program right. We have clearly taken some massive steps forward with fitness after being clearly underdone last year....but still, most of the high-performance staff from last year are there this year, as I understand it? Where is the ruthlessness needed to succeed at this level?

Looking at the kids we have out there, I'm also wondering if we have the right approach to our strength training. Perhaps this directly feeds into the injuries too. I note XON (84kg on the WCE official website) - he is getting rag-dolled and after this amount of time in the system, I would expect him to impact the contest more than he does. There are other players I see as similar - Hough, Luke Edwards, Foley, Rotham, West, Witherden - all players who seem to be undersized. Perhaps I am being harsh. I know many of these guys need more WAFL time to develop. They are playing out of role at times and being asked to do a job that they are perhaps not ready to do. But then, I feel like these guys have got smaller this year.

How about our list profile? Have we recruited well with a strong future strategy? I guess time will tell, but it looks like we have a lack of tall talent coming through - previously a strength of ours. I don't think the Kelly trade is to blame for any woes in this regard, although some will point to it as an excuse for lack of depth. I remember a time when WC was the benchmark for drafting and recruiting. That is no longer the case and it has not been for some time...perhaps since a certain No. 3 draft pick departed the club. Nice guys won't win flags. Likewise, neither will the best WA talent in a national competition. Perhaps the last 12 months has shown a shift in strategy, with the recruitment of Culley, Burgiel & Long. To be the best, we need to pick the best.

The club is big....and so many of our current issues must start with what is happening inside the organization. Without looking too deeply into this...the executive team, the board, the 200-odd employees, and then the coaching team that directly supports Simpson. They are all part of every decision made...and something, somewhere seems to be wrong. It has been for years, I suspect.

It is up to Simpson to get the best out of his players. It doesn't look like this is happening. Certainly not today. The question I would ask is whether we can reasonably expect them to be at their best. Young players who have been smashed around, playing far too many minutes against players twice their size. Players rushed back from injury, with a lack of confidence and form. Players out of position or under duress. How do they keep believing when there is no respite in sight? There is only so much discretionary effort a player can offer up before it takes a toll.

What we definitely can't excuse, is senior players who are not leading the way. I won't name anyone.

Simpson may be an amazing coach. I honestly don't know. I think he was the right fit when he came on board. I don't know how much of the 2018 success was due to forced change or the input of Sam Mitchell, Jamie Graham et al....but he is a premiership coach, so he must be half-decent at his job. I think it would be foolish to sack him now...especially without a much closer examination of what has happened across the board and especially without a replacement. He is probably a great fit in terms of managing player welfare and unity during a difficult time - and helping our new and incoming players settle into the club.

But as I said at the start, once the mob starts calling for blood...the coach is usually the first to go. I genuinely believe that if he is pushed this year, it will do more damage than good.

[DALBY]

I hear it's 1.6million to pay out Simpson. Might be keeping him a while longer.

[HH]

https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/eagle ... 68e25bbb74

If this article is true, the WCE board clearly thinks that Simmo is the man to lead the re-build given the three month holiday offer after the 2023 season ends. How they formed this view is beyond me when we are getting belted at Footscray levels (before merging with the Bears) and I don’t see us winning another game which would consign us to our second spoon with less wins than in 2010.

Simmo is a premiership coach of this club (for which I like all fans will always be grateful for) and I get there may be a contractual payout but FMD the real question everyone should be asking is “What spectacular levels of failure does a WCE coach have to achieve in order to get sacked?”

[Mr Q]

https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/eagles-coach-adam-simpson-told-to-take-threemonth-holiday-to-save-job-eddie-mcguire-reveals/news-story/f1d22118fa4e61dd5f088368e25bbb74

If this article is true, the WCE board clearly thinks that Simmo is the man to lead the re-build given the three month holiday offer after the 2023 season ends. How they formed this view is beyond me when we are getting belted at Footscray levels (before merging with the Bears) and I don’t see us winning another game which would consign us to our second spoon with less wins than in 2010.

Simmo is a premiership coach of this club (for which I like all fans will always be grateful for) and I get there may be a contractual payout but FMD the real question everyone should be asking is “What spectacular levels of failure does a WCE coach have to achieve in order to get sacked?”

I'd argue that he's got nothing to work with at the moment - any and every team would be being belted with the Eagles injury scenario. The fact they're all long term injuries makes it worse, as there is then a conditioning period on return to the field. It will be a bit like last year, even once players return, it will be quite a lot like having no pre-season under their belt.

I would be having a major look at the medical and fitness teams though, asking why this is quite so bad. A lot are unavoidable contact injuries, but there are enough serious soft tissue injuries in there to wonder what's going on.