Eagles make ‘extraordinary’ call over besieged AFL coach

Adam Simpson’s future at West Coast has been the topic of hypothesis for months and when the choice lastly dropped on Monday evening, it caught everybody off guard.

Simpson has been with the Eagles since means again in 2014, main the membership to a premiership 4 years later.

The membership has been slidingly dramatically since then, capped by a Seventeenth-place end in 2022 and now simply the second picket spoon in membership historical past 12 months later.

Watch each match of The 2023 Toyota AFL Finals Series earlier than the Grand Final Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo Sports. Join now and begin streaming immediately >

It was broadly anticipated Simpson wouldn’t survive past this season, regardless of holding a contract by till the top of the 2025 season.

But Simpson had remained defiant about his future and the membership launched an announcement on Monday night to say the membership has religion within the 47-year-old and is backing him to proceed the whole rebuild of the fallen giants.

There was a big sum of cash concerned if the membership was to terminate Simpson’s contract early.

A payout to Simpson plus a big reported tax element put his sacking at round $4 million, though West Coast is among the greatest and most worthwhile golf equipment within the AFL, regardless of its current points.

It was an announcement met with widespread shock amongst AFL circles.

“Adam Simpson has risen from the dead,” Jon Ralph mentioned on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.

“This is extraordinary. I think he was gone, I think the AFL spoke to them about the payment methods for that potential $4 million, everyone believed that he was gone.

“The club has worked through some of those issues, worked through some of the costs, I’m fascinated.

“I spoke to his manager Shane Casley at lunch time today, Adam had no idea, he was just sitting there waiting. It is remarkable.”

Ralph mentioned there may be nonetheless hypothesis the membership want to implement a succession plan for Simpson within the subsequent yr or two.

Eagles nice Dean Cox, a present assistant coach on the Sydney Swans, is a reputation that has been talked about.

For now, the West Australian membership confirmed the news that few had been anticipating.

“At the meeting today, the Board unanimously agreed that Adam will remain as senior coach,” Chairman Paul Fitzpatrick mentioned in a part of an announcement on the membership’s web site.

“No one knows our playing list better than Adam and he has already steered us through the first phase of the rebuild.

“We are confident he can take us forward and take us where we aspire to be.

“Our season came to an end on Saturday night and we finished at the foot of the premiership table. That does not sit well with anyone at the club and we are all aware that there is much work to be done to return as a force in the competition.

“Some of the work that is required to improve has already started and it will continue in the off-season and through the pre-season.”

“We know we need to be better across all aspects in the football program.

“We will again go to the draft where we currently hold the first selection and we will look to bring in some elite youngsters with that and other selections.

“We are also open to bringing in players through the trade period who fit our needs and list profile.

“Adam is central to our development plans to assist the club’s rise up the ladder.”

Originally printed as West Coast Eagles lastly give Adam Simpson news he’s been ready for

Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au