Adam Simpson lamented West Coast’s flat opening for Saturday’s 31-point loss to Adelaide, and believes the bye has come at the right time for the Eagles as they seek to regroup for the run home.

The Crows’ five-goal-to-nil first quarter blew West Coast away early and, although the Eagles fought back and won the second half, it was too little too late to avoid an equal club record eighth-consecutive defeat.

“You can’t separate it because the start’s the start. We got done for workrate and a little bit of game sense. That’s been a big part of our issue,” Simpson said post-match.

“The contest early on, on the back of workrate, they just had more numbers to each situation, but after quarter-time I thought the game was probably even for the rest of the day.

“We had momentum, they did, and it was a normal feel. For that, we’ll take positives.

“But the start, the ability to concede field position like we did again, it’s something we’ve got to get better at to be competitive.

“The last quarter was probably our best quarter for a while with our intensity, pressure and supply.

“Adelaide stood up really well in the last 10 minutes when they feel a bit of heat. They finished the game off.

“Small wins today, but still not where we want to be.”

The Eagles weren’t helped pre-game when star defender Jeremy McGovern was ruled out with a back complaint that saw him subbed out of the last round’s clash with the Western Bulldogs, and Crows talls Taylor Walker and Darcy Fogarty were a handful with three goals apiece.

“We did a fitness test yesterday and he (McGovern) was like ‘I’m all good, right to go’ and then we said ‘hang on, do a couple of one-on-ones’ and he did one and his back wasn’t right,” Simpson said.

“To his credit, he was desperate to play. Like a lot of our leaders they’re doing, saying and acting the right way off-field, it was just unfortunately he couldn’t get up to play.

“We’ve got a bye now, so he’ll be fine. He’ll come back and he’ll be good for Geelong.”

Simpson hoped knee soreness troubling Isiah Winder, who was subbed out, isn’t too serious, and expected a host of regulars to get a run in the WAFL against Claremont next round before putting their hands up to play the Cats after the bye.

Small forwards Liam Ryan and Willie Rioli could join Dom Sheed, Elliot Yeo and Jack Petruccelle at the WAFL Eagles.

“There’s a good chance to expose these guys to some footy,” Simpson said.

“Last year we did this and brought them because they were available and good players but they weren’t ready.

“This year we’ve taken our time a bit more.”