A supercoach year in review
What a year it must have been coaching West Coast. Who on earth would have thought this years’ premiers would have faced as much adversity as the Eagles have this year, and that a head coach could remain as focussed as Adam Simpson throughout. We saw it on Saturday when Nathan Buckley jogged out onto the MCG to console the Collingwood cheer squad after their banner ripped apart before the players even got to the ground, and again after he had lost the 2018 premiership to a stronger Eagles outfit when he sought out his runner Alex Woodward to reassure him after his involvement in some friendly fire late in the game. Being the head coach of an AFL football team is a lot more than planning the winning strategy every week.
Embedded: The MCG erupted early on Saturday as Collingwood’s banner disintegrated in front of the eyes of 100,000 spectators before the Collingwood players were on the field.
Simmo’s march to the 2018 premiership obviously began long before West Coast’s inaugural home game at the new stadium against Sydney. Him and his army of assistant coaches and technical experts would have been preparing the winning formula all pre-season and earlier. But away from the whiteboard he was also building a legacy. During the 2017 off-season he visited the Tiwi Islands with assistant coach Jaymie Graham and Willie Rioli to get a better understanding of where West Coast’s newest excitement machine had come from and connect more with Rioli on a personal level. Never mind that this trip was with a guy who hadn’t played his first game at the club yet, or that he still had a question mark over his physical conditioning having drafted to the club significantly overweight.
Embedded: Simpson and assistant coach Jaymie Graham took their families on holiday in the Tiwi Islands with future superstar Willie Rioli late 2017.
He also made a 4-hour round trip to Bendigo to pay his respects to the Cole family during their own personal challenges. I’ll write no more on that topic other than to wish Tom Cole and his family all the happiness in the world and commend his bravery this year on and off the field.
One of the most significant observations for me watching the coaches and playing group at the Eagles this year is the way they have welcomed their debutants into the Eagles nest. When clueless TV presenters like Basil Zempilas challenged Simmo on the club and it’s culture this year, the first thought that came to mind was how inclusive the club is at its most basic levels. Watching the entire squad embrace its new players in the traditional guernsey presentation and shower them with welcome, you had a feeling something special was happening at West Coast. Gone are the old school days where new talent had to learn their place before they were allowed to even speak to the senior coaches, the club is pioneering a tight close-knit approach as a new age of player management arrives.
In the era of free-agency, inclusiveness and team culture will mean more now than ever before. You only have to look at the inflated offers coming from North Melbourne and St Kilda for West Coast free agents this year to realise that holding down a good list is more expensive than it ever has been. It has been widely regarded as Simpson’s close relationship with Jeremy McGovern and the culture at the West Coast Eagles that saw him turn down significantly higher offers from not just interstate clubs but also cross-town rivals Fremantle, before signing on with the long-term contract West Coast offered that will still set him up for life. In the current era, any club chasing an AFL premiership winning list will have to stand for something bigger than a full salary cap; with 18 teams in the competition there just isn’t the same spread of A-Grade talent for the teams at the lower end not to be dangling offers that the top sides can’t compete with.
However along with coaching a premiership winning game plan and developing a new era and mentality at the club, Simmo and the entire staff at the club have maintained focus during a consistently trying period. Injury struck early and regularly at Optus Stadium. While some challenged the surface at the new oval, not a week went by when lower leg injuries weren’t sustained at the ground by home teams as well as the interstate opponents. The problem was that while Buddy Franklin may have left Perth with injuries that would linger with him all year, WA’s two home sides were enduring this every second week. But the Stadium stuck to its guns and maintained that the surface met regulations, while working on softening the turf, and West Coast replaced player after player under Simmo’s like-for-like policy and stuck to their mantra of ‘playing the role’, going on to set up the season with a 10 game winning streak.
Then the noise of the insatiable media started to build. Who knows what personal grief Nic Natanui shared with the West Coast Eagles staffer before getting into that carpark back in Perth and being met with the channel 7 camera crew. Whatever it was, it wasn’t great PR for the club to physically intervene with the media, and it came back to bite them as all parties at the West Coast Eagles closed ranks around their player Andrew Gaff and taught the world a lesson on how companies should put the health of their employees first above all else… much to their own detriment. To say that Simpson saw the ugly side of The West Australian media is an understatement, but somehow he was able to block out all of the noise and never lost focus on a goal that many would have thought was slipping out of reach.
Embedded: Adam Simpson consoles a devastated Andrew Gaff in round 20 against the Dockers, following the on-field incident with young superstar Andrew Brayshaw
The attacks on the club and it’s fans continued right up until that final siren on Saturday. You could be forgiven for thinking that little logo at the top of all the West Australian newspapers during the finals series looked more like a bandaid than a statement. “We’re for Eagles” was just a little condescending to a state of fans who had watched the club endure every accusation under the sun levelled at the president, coach, players and supporters. But while the blue and gold army spluttered with outrage, Simmo the tank engine just kept on keeping on. It must have been reassuring to feel the weight of hundreds of thousands of fans out there standing behind the club and it’s players while he got on with delivering the only response you can give to an industry of critics.
So to finish up I would like to say thank you Adam Simpson, for setting the bar that little bit higher for club environments where young athletes come almost straight from school to join, and remain a part of until their 30s with a little luck. The high profile world of AFL within Australia can be glamourous and rewarding, but it’s a bubble, and a bubble that has often done great harm to its players in the past. But with a little bit more of the culture being instilled from the top at West Coast, the sport of AFL will have a very bright future.
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