West Coast coach Adam Simpson has lamented his team’s execution of basic fundamentals in their 65-point loss to Greater Western Sydney at Optus Stadium.
There were some positive signs for last year’s wooden spooners, who displayed a faster, more attacking game style in in their first home game of 2024.
But the Eagles’ skills couldn’t match their desire at times and the Giants capitalised, hurting the home side on the rebound in a 16.12 (108) to 5.13 (43) result.
“I thought our effort was there. We turned some balls over that you probably couldn’t defend and throughout the game it was like we were this close to breaking through and we got hurt the other way,” Simpson said.
“Basic fundamentals when we brought a bit of speed into the game so for a good quarter and a half… we just lost our way with the fundamentals.
“We were in the general play contests, in the clearances between the arcs – there’s some stuff that we’re chasing that we saw some improvement on last year, but we’ve still got some work to do.”
The Eagles were smashed in the ruck by monster Giant Kieren Briggs, who finished with 21 disposals, 12 clearances and 34 hit-outs in the absence of West Coast’s injured No.1 ruckman Matt Flynn.
Second-gamer Harry Barnett struggled against the much-bigger Briggs and was subbed out in the third term, with Bailey Williams sent into the ruck more having played predominantly forward.
Simpson indicated there is unlikely to be a change as they prepare to take on reigning All-Australian ruckman Tim English when they play the Western Bulldogs next weekend.
“Harry Barnett is 19, so you’ve got to give these guys some exposure,” he said.
“I thought he did his bit. He obviously gave a couple of free kicks away, but he would’ve learnt a lot today.
“Bailey’s someone we need forward at the moment. We fell down in our front half in the air and they’ve got a great backline, but we had one tall in the last half when Bailey went into the ruck.”
It was a promising first game at Optus Stadium for No.1 draftee Harley Reid, who had the crowd excited with some of his efforts throughout the game.
“He contributed like we thought he would and he’ll just keep getting fitter and better and more connected to our players,” Simpson said.
The pressure on veteran forward Jack Darling is mounting after he managed only two behinds from 12 touches in another tough performance.
Darling appears unlikely to be dropped like his long-time teammate Andrew Gaff, with a long-term injury to co-captain Oscar Allen leaving the Eagles light on tall forwards.
“I think the effort was there. (He’s) just not getting rewarded at all at the moment,” Simpson said.
“He’s got some work to do to get himself into form. We need him to play well.
“We’re going to miss Ozzy for a fair while so we will keep working on that as best we can. We know what (Darling’s) best looks like and we’ll do everything we can to get him there.”
