AFL 2023: Mick Malthouse on Adam Simpson and coaching from the bottom of the ladder

Adam Simpson is in new territory as his Eagles flounder in last place, yet the end of this season is still vital and could define both Simpson and the football club’s futures, writes Mick Malthouse.

It’s the old adage, you’ve never coached until you’ve coached the bottom team.

There’s very little escaping the pressures from everywhere when you are behind the rest of the competition. West Coast will finish bottom this season, which means Adam Simpson is in new territory.

Being near or close to the bottom of the ladder has certainly sorted out a few coaches and clubs throughout history. No one likes it, no one wants it. The test is to be able to come out the other side better for it.

I don’t use these words lightly – Chris Scott is a great coach. But until he samples what Simpson is currently going through, and others have been through, we can’t draw a final conclusion on how great he is.

Some will coach their entire careers without entering that territory. But most will at least sample the weight of carrying the whole competition above them.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson will be getting advice from all angles. Picture: Phil Hillyard )

Will Chris Scott ever do it tough at Geelong? Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Simpson will be getting advice from anyone and everyone. Mine is not advice, but a story.

Coaching Footscray as a young, debutant coach, still fills me with pride. But it was the challenges of 1987 and 1989 that perhaps defined my next chapter, with West Coast.

In 1987 we lost the first three games by a combined 42 goals. In the fourth round, against the reigning premier Hawthorn, we won. And ended up missing finals by just half a game.

There was no easy solution, as players left the financially struggling club for monetary gain, or retirement. My answer was to put as many talented under-19 players into the team as possible. We had some good wins and some bad losses. It was a learning curve for all.

In 1989, the spectre of a merger with Fitzroy clouded our entire season and loomed large over the playing group. Uncertainty can breed inaction. But in this case we still managed six wins and a draw by sticking together and playing the season out.

The Dogs were ultimately saved and have since become a force again.

West Coast won’t fold because the club itself is in a healthy position thanks to Trevor Nisbett and the board. But right now, it is going through a horrible time.

It wasn’t that long ago that Hawthorn and Melbourne were in merger talks, yet history shows that the Hawks are one of the most successful clubs ever, and Melbourne has survived in its own right.

West Coast will survive this period and it will be the catalyst for its future success.

Not that it does Simpson any good to think about what could happen in eight to 10 years’ time. His immediate thoughts must be to gain credibility back for the club and its supporters, to give his players some hope, and to advise the club – including the board – of a direction forward.

Mick Malthouse coaching West Coast in 1989.

When I took over as coach at Collingwood in 2000, we were rock bottom. I had the capacity to change the list quite severely, which I did, and we ended up playing off in the grand finals of 2002 and 2003, losing both to the great Brisbane Lions team.

After the 2003 loss I went to the board and told them that team, unfortunately, wouldn’t win a premiership. We needed to restructure the group and start over.

So, with many players retiring or being moved on, we started again. 2004 and 2005 were not great years as far as ladder positions went, but we accumulated enough good players to add on to our playing list which by 2007 almost toppled the great Geelong team in the preliminary final.

The involvement of young players coming through from the draft like Scott Pendlebury, Dale Thomas, Dane Swan, Alan Didak and Heath Shaw, gave us enough impetus to be the catalyst for the 2010 premiership.

I questioned that decision through sleepless nights, but I knew we had to take some pain for long-term gain. It was whether or not the board could stomach it, too? There were many moments when they almost couldn’t, but it’s in those times that it’s most important to hold your nerve and your direction.

It won’t lead to a premiership every time, but if you are prepared to hold the line it can at least get the club back into a competitive position.

Coupled with good recruitment, the 2010 Magpie premiership team had seven or eight players from the rookie list, one being captain Nick Maxwell. What I’m saying here is: the board needs to know that the journey is going to be tough, but with a recruitment panel that understands your needs, a senior playing group that will nurture young players coming through, and a strong football club that works together, anything is possible.

When he took over at Collingwood in 2000, the Magpies were struggling.

As far as game plans go, things that have been tested and failed before, shouldn’t be repeated. As Albert Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

Only Simpson will know whether or not the 2018 premiership system will work for this West Coast group again.

That is, when he has a full list back on the park. Everyone in football knows how much the Eagles have suffered with injuries and I defy any coach to sustain those same injuries to their list and stay in a position to win.

My take is that the Eagles’ senior players have lost their effectiveness from an overload of expectation. It can become wearisome to continually be the go-to, when the younger players are looking to you to set the work and effort example.

If they think they’ve got no hope, then you have no hope, and that is a disease that seeps through organisations and takes no prisoners.

It’s hard enough in a Melbourne environment when one club suffers the scrutiny of a lacklustre season, but in an environment like Perth – a two-team town where the big boys on the block are the Eagles, because of their success for so long – it becomes abhorrent.

Those who do not support West Coast can’t wait to put the boot in, and that includes some of the media lining up on the sidelines at training waiting to ask about the effort, the coach, the players, and the club, all of which becomes a distraction from playing good football.

I’d love to have a solution, but if my advice is worth anything, I would suggest that Simpson never let it be seen that he is carrying a defeatist burden. To keep his head high no matter the inner turmoil and to show signs of positivity and development.

Yes, the year is lost, but it’s what the Eagles can salvage from the rest of the season that will define the coach, the football club, and the future.

Originally published as AFL 2023: Mick Malthouse on Adam Simpson and coaching from the bottom of the ladder