‘Season is slipping away’: Do or die for Covid-ravaged West Coast Eagles

The West Coast Eagles have endured a horror start to the season and now coach Adam Simpson has made a tough admission.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson says his players must own the club’s Covid crisis and move on if they are to salvage a season that is “well and truly slipping away”.

The Eagles slumped to an 84-point defeat at the hands of Port Adelaide on Saturday night, which left them with a 1-5 record and a percentage of just 61.2.

Simpson’s side has been ravaged by the virus in the early rounds of the season, but the coach declared that can no longer be used as an excuse for poor performance.

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“We can’t live on that, we’ve moved on from that, and there will be some residual (effects) from what we went through but we can’t come in every week and say ‘Oh, we’ve had a tough run’,” Simpson said.

“We’ve got to own it.

“We’re trying to balance what’s happened with where we’re at and I’m more worried about (where we are) than what’s happened.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do.

“We’ve got Richmond on Friday night and the season is well and truly slipping away.

“So we’ve got to find a way.”

The Eagles are staring down the possibility of missing finals for the second consecutive year. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Eagles managed just 34 inside 50s against the Power at Adelaide Oval and are averaging a league-low 40.5 per game, while the Power went inside attacking 50 65 times.

Simpson put the onus on his underperforming midfield to help address the imbalance.

“Our ability to sustain effort, intensity and work rate is not there and (forward) supply is our biggest issue,” the coach said.

“We’re exposing some young players to AFL experience, but to be honest our backs have been dealing with 60-plus inside 50s for three or four weeks in a row and we’ve had under 40 for the same amount of time.

“As much as it’s good to give opportunities we don’t want them dealing with that down back and up forward, so we’ve got to get it right in the midfield.”

Yeo is a chance to miss next week’s game. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Simpson is hopeful of regaining Jeremy McGovern (Covid protocols) and Andrew Gaff (ankle) for Friday night’s clash with the Tigers at Optus Stadium.

Elliot Yeo suffered a head knock in the second quarter against the Power and was subbed out, with Simpson unsure whether he would recover in time to face Richmond.

Originally published as ‘Season is slipping away’: Do or die for Covid-ravaged West Coast Eagles