Adam Simpson hangs tough with Eagles as Liam Ryan’s season in balance
Besieged West Coast coach Adam Simpson has fired up at a press conference as he insists he is up for the job of reviving the club.
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Eagles coach Adam Simpson says his job is “not curing cancer” and insists he still has the energy to oversee the club’s daunting rebuild.
The under-siege premiership coach played down any emotional toll from West Coast’s horror run of form, which was capped off by the heaviest loss in the club’s history at the SCG on Saturday as the Swans piled on 205 points to win by 171.
Simpson responded fiercely to suggestions Eagles strength and conditioning manager Warren Kofoed had been scapegoated after the loss, saying the veteran staffer had made his decision to depart the club at the end of the season weeks earlier.
He said it would be “silly” to draw a connection between the humiliating defeat and Kofoed’s exit.
“Warren’s been there since the day I got here … massive part of our success. I wish him all the best and thank him for everything he’s done for us,” Simpson said.
“We don’t make those decisions on Sunday night, I think that was made a few weeks ago … so the timing was probably a bit off – it was working with Kofe and what’s best for him and how he wanted to announce, so that’s what we did.
“Scapegoat … don’t be silly. He’s staying on for the rest of the season. I’m not connecting it to the game on the weekend, not at all.”
Simpson said he had strong perspective on the Eagles’ predicament, maintaining he was not losing motivation despite his side’s torrid run of form.
“I’m not curing cancer … this is a tough job, it’s not for everyone, but I’ve been in this industry since 1993, not much can get through,” he said.
“It’s difficult to get (a sense of fulfilment from the job) now – I feel very protective at the moment, and I want to support my players and my club.”
Simpson said star forward Liam Ryan was “looking more unlikely” to return at all this season from the severe hamstring injury he sustained in round 3, while he gave Shannon Hurn and Jamie Cripps a chance of returning from respective hamstring and ankle issues against St Kilda at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
He said his heart went out to seriously ill forward Jake Waterman, with the Eagles still yet to learn the “full extent” of his situation as he is treated in hospital for ulcerative colitis.
Waterman’s father, dual Eagles premiership player Chris Waterman, told SEN on Monday that he was disappointed with the club’s handling of his son’s illness.
“To send him home from Adelaide pretty crook and to find out when he was in hospital on Monday night was the first time they contacted him … it was a bit disappointing,” he said.
“I would have thought they’d reached out and just checked on him.
“Since then, they now know it’s pretty serious and they’ve got to do what they can do.”
Originally published as Adam Simpson hangs tough with Eagles as Liam Ryan’s season in balance
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