Battling West Coast captain Luke Shuey has put the blame for his facet’s horror run squarely on the gamers and never coach Adam Simpson and declared the Eagles should “grit our teeth” and reply after the darkest day within the membership’s historical past.
Saturday’s embarrassing 171-point loss to the Sydney Swans was the fourth loss by greater than 100 factors this season for the Eagles, and of their previous two matches West Coast has been crushed by a mixed 293 factors.
West Coast sits final on the ladder with only a single win and Simpson’s group has managed simply three victories from their previous 35 video games going again to spherical 1, 2022.
Shuey, 33, has solely managed six video games himself this season and been amongst an harm record that at present has 17 gamers, together with the likes of star ruckman Nic Naitanui on it, some with no return in sight.
The skipper stated he wished to play on in 2024 to “play a hand in the next experience of success” for his youthful teammates, who he stated had been “hurting” after final weekend’s debacle heaped stress on the membership’s older gamers and Simpson.
“It’s hurting. We’re not playing great footy. The boys are hurting behind closed doors,” Shuey stated on Monday.
“We let a team kick 200 points. It was difficult to have a bit of a reset with the bye and then deliver that performance.
“We’ve got a chance to prove to people this week that that is not the side we are. We need to be better for our young guys.
“There will be a response this week. It’s been frustrating, but I’m doing everything I can to give our fans, family and everyone something to be proud of. We’ve got to grit our teeth and get on with it.”
Shuey additionally stated the gamers, not Simpson, needed to shoulder the burden of how the group was enjoying.
“We’re the ones out there playing. We’re the ones not defending well enough or giving our forwards chances to kick goals,” he stated.
“There’s not much that can be done from the coaching box.”
“We’re all responsible. We are all accountable. It takes 44 blokes to do it together. We have to fight our way out together.”
The Eagles are backing Simpson, with chairman Paul Fitzpatrick saying they “have faith” within the embattled coach who has two extra years to run on his contract.
In a letter to members within the wake of Saturday’s embarrassing loss, Fitzpatrick stated Simpson was the fitting man to place the Eagles on “the path we need to take to fight our way back”.
“Obviously, Adam Simpson and his coaching staff have been limited with what they can do with such a long injury list, but regardless we cannot tolerate performances of that nature and we expect a strong response against St Kilda next Sunday,” he stated.
“We do have faith that Adam can take this team forward and we also believe in the path we need to take to fight our way back.”
West Coast will get the possibility for redemption at dwelling in opposition to St Kilda this Sunday.
Originally printed as West Coast captain Luke Shuey at a loss to elucidate means out of horror season
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
