‘That’s tanking’: Eagles’ tactics in one-point loss questioned by AFL commentators

West Coast’s tactics in the dying stages of their one-point loss have been questioned, with commentators debating whether they were tanking.

Eagles coach Adam Simpson said: "No plus-one."

West Coast’s decision not to put an extra defender behind the ball in the dying stages of their one-point loss to Essendon has been questioned by AFL commentators.

The Eagles mounted a huge comeback against the Bombers on Saturday to give them a sniff of their third win of the season.

But with a minute remaining, Essendon surged the ball out of the centre and Kyle Langford ran into an open goal for his major to put the Bombers in front. They held on to win 73-72.

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Nathan Buckley said on SEN on Monday: “If West Coast didn’t have a spare player behind the ball in the last minute against West Coast, does that say anything about their willingness to win that game of footy?

“Would you have expected that if a team is less than a goal up with less than a minute to play, that they’d have more players behind than in front of the ball?”

Victory would have seen West Coast leapfrog North Melbourne on the ladder after they defeated the Kangaroos the previous week.

But the loss means the Eagles are on track to claim the wooden spoon and the No. 1 draft pick.

The two struggling sides are in a race to snare highly touted youngster Harley Reid, who is widely tipped to by this year’s No. 1 pick and took a sensational specky on the weekend.

On Nine’s Footy Classified, host Craig Hutchison claimed: “It’s got them Harley Reid that last minute.

“It’s good coaching if he (Eagles coach Adam Simpson) can disguise it if Harley Reid’s on the line.

West Coast’s tactics against Essendon have been questioned. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

“I think he was prepared to win but he certainly wasn’t going to give it extra help with a minute to go.

“If they are in finals contention, he finds a way to get someone behind the ball in that situation.

“There’s a difference between deliberately losing and not enhancing your chances of winning.”

Caroline Wilson said: “You are making a huge allegation. That’s tanking.”

Playing devil’s advocate, Kane Cornes said: “There’s every prospect they’re not a well drilled side, they’re a young side, the personnel isn’t there and they didn’t do what they were instructed to do. You could easily argue that.”

Buckley later clarified his comments on Fox Footy’s On The Couch, explaining Eagles coach Adam Simpson had told him his side hadn’t practised close game scenarios.

“There’s conclusions that could be made and questions that can’t be answered, but what we can make opinions on is what we saw,” Buckley told On The Couch.

“When (Ryan) Maric kicked that goal, that was seven of eight goals (to the Eagles), so you can’t question West Coast’s commitment and effort to get back into that game. There were players throwing themselves left, right and centre.”

Buckley pointed to behind-the-goals footage of the centre bounce stoppage following Maric’s goal.

After a secondary ball-up was forced – meaning there were no six-six-six positional restrictions in place – the Eagles opted not to send a spare player to their backline to prevent Essendon from scoring.

“I called Adam Simpson today and he told me they haven’t done a whole lot (of close-game training). He’s saying there (after Maric’s goal) ‘no plus-one’, so he’s happy to play man-on-man,” Buckley said.

The Eagles went one-on-one in defence. Photo: Fox Sports.

“The wingers are out wide on the Essendon wingers. If you wanted a plus-one, it would’ve been (Oscar) Allen or (Jack) Darling or Maric himself would’ve found themselves back there.

“West Coast had their hands on that (ball in congestion). They flooded it with half-forwards, which was their style of trying to control this contest by flooding the contest. Didn’t win it, it went over the top, Jayden Hunt – an experienced player – let his man goalside, (consequently Elliot) Yeo needs to press up and then there’s an over-the-top goal.”

“We look at the flip side of it. This is a side (Essendon) that’s fighting for its position in the eight, probably been doing a bit more scenario work,” Buckley continued.

“It’s a very similar situation: From a centre bounce we’ve got a secondary stoppage. Gaff decides not to go with him. If he had, that would’ve looked exactly the same.

“But instructive in this is that Essendon have won both stoppages. Now if West Coast win one or both of those, it’s a totally different situation and we don’t even need to look behind the ball.

West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson. (Photo by Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“But Essendon, when the ball was there to be won, they were the ones that won the stoppages that counted and that’s what gave them the opportunity to win the game and West Coast lost it.

“When I spoke to Simmo … he said they hadn’t trained their scenario play – half a goal up or half a goal down. They haven’t been in that situation all year, they’ve just been trying to work to get their transition game right and get playing.

Garry Lyon said West Coast “fought to the death trying to get four points” but their tactics would have been very different if they were higher on the ladder.

“If this is a Grand Final – and he (Simpson) might just go, ‘well it’s not a Grand Final, we’re prepared to just test our backmen and it would be good for them to learn one-on-one defence in the highest of pressure’,” Lyon said.

“But clearly Simmo is saying ‘no plus-one’ – you push a number back, I would imagine, to support. Maybe not, but in this situation he’s happy not to.”

Originally published as ‘That’s tanking’: Eagles’ tactics in one-point loss questioned by AFL commentators