The dominoes have started to fall at the West Coast Eagles following the tyre fire we all witnessed against Sydney on Saturday at the SCG.
Just 24 hours after the club, via chairman Paul Fitzpatrick's statement on Sunday night declared 'there's nothing to see here, we'll be right, it will turn around,' they have signed the papers of its long term-high performance man Warren Koefod.
Koefod got the sack, but only at the end of the year and with nine games still left in the Eagles’ season, Koefod is walking the longest of planks.
With an injury list as long as the Eagles’ and a handful of players running around with the custard abs you don’t usually see on professional athletes, the axing is unsurprising - even though former player Will Schofield was bemused.
Schofield strongly supported Koefod on Twitter - "What a remarkable time to release this. Are any players finishing up at the end of the year? Or will that be done post-season? I'm Sorry, be he ain’t the fall guy for this. In my ten years under Warren, my nor my teammates were not ravaged by injuries."
Koefod won't be the last to go; the list management team will be next to fall, then Simpson and a long line of player delistings.
Currently, there are at least 18 players in the Eagles’ rehab room, and following nearly every game, in his post-match media conference, coach Adam Simpson uses the term availably as an excuse.
He did it again when speaking to the media on Tuesday.
There are multiple underlying factors in the Eagles’ injury crisis. Firstly, as I've mentioned repeatedly, when you choose to sign ageing veterans who have carried chronic injuries for years, such as Luke Shuey, Nic Naitanui, Elliot Yeo, Shannon Hurn and Jeremy McGovern, it's hardly a surprise when they break down again.
They are passed it - their bodies can't do it anymore. Not at this level.
But what if a more sinister, underlying issue is contributing to this?
I've been told, by teams that have played on Optus Stadium, that it is the hardest surface, by a mile, of any AFL ground.
The visiting players pull up so sore their training has had to be cancelled following games in Perth.
It has sometimes taken visiting teams over a week for the players to recover.
The state-of-the-art stadium cost 1.6 billion dollars, but the surface is unforgiving and rock hard.
In 2018 Lance Franklin missed multiple weeks of games after suffering a heel injury at Optus Stadium.
Sydney CEO Tom Harley was adamant that the surface's firmness contributed to the injury's severity.
It must be a factor when you factor in the brutal travel schedule of the Eagles and the Dockers.
Koefod has paid the price, but the Eagles need to dig up other theories and get to the bottom of the 1.6 billion dollar problem that could be costing people, including the players, their careers.