Wayne Carey weighs in on Adam Simpson’s front page controversy

Wayne Carey has weighed in on the front page controversy that rocked the league on Wednesday in the wake of Adam Simpson’s axing.

2 min read

July 11, 2024 - 1:45PM

Wayne Carey weighs in on front page controversy

AFL great Wayne Carey has weighed in on the front page controversy that rocked the league in the wake of Adam Simpson’s axing.

Simpson was burnt by The West Australian on Wednesday who delivered an eye-catching cover which showcased West Coast’s brutal record over the past 65 games.

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The cover was decorated with 57 L’s and eight W’s in a move that sparked widespread backlash among the football community.

Carey joined the chorus of those to slam the “disrespectful” move on Wednesday as he echoed a similar sentiment shared by many social media users in believing the front page should have been a thank you message to the departing coach.

The 53-year-old posted an image to his social media account of a doctored front page of The West Australian which showed Simpson holding aloft the 2018 premiership cup with the message “Thanks Simmo” written underneath.

What the cover should have been. Credit: @waynecarey27/twitter

The cover that sparked the backlash

Carey wasn’t alone in calling out the newspaper with the Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson taking aim over the front page decision.

“I work in newspapers Gerard and you’ve worked in newspapers,” Robinson said AFL 360.

“That there is nothing short of disgraceful in my opinion. There’s people right now at the West Australian thinking ‘oh they’re all talking about us, this is what we want’.

“From a journalistic point of view, that is one of the most disgraceful things I’ve seen in football.

“He doesn’t deserve ‘See ya Simmon’, he deserves thank you Adam. You know it went pear shaped, actually you’ve been coaching terribly the club has been going terribly … but thank you so much.

“That’s fleet street England material which people giggle about. People are giggling at The West Australian, giggling in embarrassment and shame.

“I don’t think there would be too many newspaper people in Australia, outside of The West Australian, who are sitting there and saying ‘geeze I’m proud of that front page.’”

Simpson’s time came to an end on Tuesday. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The curtain came down on Simpson’s time on Tuesday following a board of directors meeting, bringing an end to his coaching tenure after 11-years and 242 games.

He was one of only three coaches in the club’s history to lead them to a premiership victory after guiding the Eagles to the ultimate success in 2018.

His farewell press conference featured an awkward moment when club CEO Don Pyke appeared to blindside him with a request to coach a farewell game.

“It’s important we pay respect for what he’s done for our club and recognise the wonderful contribution he’s made,” Pyke said.

“With that in mind, we’ve requested Adam coach the side one final time this weekend. As much as today is the announcement of the finish, we’d love Adam to coach one more time.”