Is it in the interest of both Adam Simpson and West Coast for the coach to move on at the end of the season?
The Eagles suffered an embarrassing defeat on Sunday afternoon, losing to the 17th-placed Hawthorn by 116 points.
Kane Cornes believes Simpson still has plenty to offer as an AFL coach and doesn’t think he’ll survive the brutal rebuild process currently being undertaken at the Eagles.
“If he stays too long at West Coast, he won’t be desirable for another club. If he chose to leave now and get out, he would absolutely have options elsewhere,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.
“That may seem like a selfish thing to do, but it may be beneficial for the club as well.
“He is not going to last at West Coast until the end of 2025. You just don’t last that long, with that record.
“You compare the strategy of West Coast to Hawthorn, as much as the criticism has come for the list management at Hawthorn, you can actually see a clear plan and a clear method with the way they are playing.
“That was damning yesterday. The effort levels from the players, take out who was there, the effort levels couldn’t have been worse – to the point where it looked like they’ve given up.
“I sat through (Simpson’s) press conference and he’s out of answers and he’s shocked at the situation the club finds itself in.”
The Eagles have been ravaged by injuries, with 17 players unavailable.
That list includes the likes Elliot Yeo, Liam Ryan, Luke Shuey, Nic Naitanui, Jeremy McGovern, Shannon Hurn, Jack Darling, Jai Culley, Jamie Cripps and Tom Cole, with Liam Duggan and Jamaine Jones joining them on the weekend.
Cornes however believes West Coast contributed to this given their ageing list and injury-prone players.
“Sometimes it’s list management. If you continually sign players who are always injured – I get that there’s a lot of injuries, but a guy like Elliot Yeo gets injured every year. Nic Naitanui and Luke Shuey the same. These guys get injured every year,” he said.
“The list management strategy at the Eagles … the writing has been on the wall for three years. Everyone could see what they needed to do, the refused to do it, arrogantly I thought.
“They thought ‘nah we’ll contend again’. They even thought they’d do it again this year.
“I hear so many excuses out of that football club.”
West Coast hosts Essendon at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, before facing Collingwood and Adelaide into the bye.