West Coast Eagles labelled a ‘disgrace’ after capitulating against Collingwood

AFL legend David King has launched a scathing attack on a footy veteran, saying his career should be terminated immediately.

Mark LeCras came in for some heavy criticism.

IT used to be funny. Now it’s getting sad.

Pretty much the only points West Coast picks up when travelling to Melbourne this year are on their players’ frequent flyer cards. The Eagles have won just two from six in the Victorian capital in 2017 and have now lost six of their last nine matches stretching back to May.

A side with top-four credentials at the start of the season has dropped back to the pack alarmingly. It now sits ninth on the ladder with nine wins from 17 games.

The latest chapter in the book of West Coast blunders is its loss to Collingwood at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, the home side winning 13.15 (93) to 13.7 (85). Leading by four goals in the final term the Eagles were overrun by a hungrier Magpies outfit fighting desperately to save coach Nathan Buckley’s career.

Jamie Elliott kicked truly from the arc to send the Pies ahead by two and when Alex Fasolo slotted home a free kick in the dying stages it was game over. You’d rather be a Richmond fan than a West Coast supporter right now — that’s how poorly the Eagles are travelling.

Startlingly, 13 Eagles couldn’t muster a single contested possession between them in the final quarter. Two-time All-Australian and North Melbourne legend David King analysed footage of the Eagles getting comprehensively outplayed at the contest following a stoppage to highlight their frailties, taking down Mark LeCras in the process.

“It doesn’t mean enough to them at the moment,” King said on Fox Footy’s On The Couch on Monday night. “Their senior, core players, it’s not everything to them.

“Here’s LeCras coming in — look at this for a flimsy tackle. He should never play again, LeCras. That’s it for me. I’m done with LeCras. We talk about him every three weeks.

“(Coach) Adam Simpson has to start to lose faith with these players because they’re not taking him anywhere.”

It was an extraordinary burn on LeCras who last week against Fremantle kicked his 400th career goal in his 190th AFL match. But King wasn’t kidding.

Mark LeCras didn’t impress David King.

King continued spraying players, laying into veteran Luke Shuey for a poor defensive play that allowed Pies midfielder Adam Treloar to win the ball and kick for goal.

“Everyone’s one-on-one at that contest except for Shuey, who wants to do his own thing,” King said. “A senior player, probably their best midfielder, lets Treloar go.

“The attitudinal problem they’ve got at West Coast needs to change and the only way to do that is to start dropping players that have got some sort of currency, some sort of note.”

Sports writer for The Australian Greg Denham slammed West Coast’s list management, suggesting the recruitment of veterans Sam Mitchell and Drew Petrie in the off-season has come at the expense of developing young talent.

He said coach Adam Simpson and general manager of football Craig Vozzo need to cop much of the blame.

“There needs to be some drastic changes at the top at West Coast in the footy department — Craig Vozzo for example. He nearly should resign today,” Denham said on SEN’s Hungry for Sport. “It’s a rabble.

“They are a disgrace. I don’t see any rejuvenation of any kids coming through that are any good. Their draft selections in recent years haven’t been too good.”

“There needs to be a drastic overhaul there and heads should roll.”

A real head-scratcher for the Eagles.

Veteran footy journalist Mike Sheahan didn’t miss either, taking aim at Simpson’s decision to rest Mitchell for Sunday’s clash.

“I find this business of saying players are managed and rested ... I think it’s nonsense,” Sheahan said on SEN Breakfast.

“He would have had 25 (possessions) yesterday and they would have made something out of 22 of them.

“They (West Coast) got their just desserts.”

Sheahan also let rip at the West Coast midfield’s dreadful capitulation in the final term, stunned at the lack of contested possessions won when the game was on the line.

“That is staggering,” Sheahan said. “It all reflects (bad) attitude.”

One of the most embarrassing moments for West Coast came when Elliot Yeo surged into the forward 50 with seven minutes remaining, his side leading by 15 points, and sprayed a shot wide from 35m out directly in front. To make matters worse, he went the premature fist pump when the ball was in flight, assuming he’d nailed the matchwinning goal.

“That celebration tells you that your head is way ahead of where the game’s at,” Melbourne legend Garry Lyon told afl.com.au’s Access All Areas.

“He’s thinking when he’s kicking that, ‘What kind of celebration can I go with?’ instead of thinking, ‘If I take another bounce, I drag him (the defender) out and I go over the top (with a handball to an unmarked teammate).’”

“They blew another one, the West Coast Eagles,” Essendon great Matthew Lloyd added.

Elliot Yeo blew a golden chance in the fourth quarter.

A shattered Simpson has promised a warts-and-all review into the club’s on-field woes after the latest debacle.

“Mental. Fitness. Personnel. We’ve got to look at everything,” Simpson said. “We need to look at what happened. Find out why. Interrogate our players to a certain degree and see how they’re feeling.

“We need to dig deep on this one.

“They’re the moments you look forward to as a player and some players stood up and some didn’t.

“(The players are) devastated like I am.

“Today was a big game, there was a lot on the line. We let it slip. For three quarters we were pretty competitive ... the contested ball in the last quarter was alarming.

“There’s a lot of frustration at the moment. We need to explore. It’s really disappointing and I can’t hide that.”

West Coast’s record under Simpson

2014

Record: 11-11, home: 6-6, away: 5-5 (2-3 in Melbourne)

2015

Record: 18-6, home: 12-2, away: 6-4 (3-2 in Melbourne), one draw

2016

Record: 16-7, home: 11-2, away: 5-5 (1-3 in Melbourne)

2017

Record: 9-8, home: 6-3, away 3-5 (2-4 in Melbourne)

Simpson’s players aren’t delivering.