Despite the result in Sunday’s game against St Kilda, Adam Simpson was pleased with the energy and passion he saw from the young players during the game, and the leadership shown by the senior players throughout the week.
Falling to the Saints by just eight points on Sunday at Optus Stadium, Simpson said the vibe around the club had improved.
“It’s been better than previous weeks, obviously we didn’t get the win, but the performance was better, and I thought we saw a glimpse of the future as well,” Simpson said on Thursday.
“Not having the win hurt a little but there were things around it that we liked, with our younger players and our senior players leading the way as well, that was sort of the expectation we were hoping for.”
A fourth-quarter fade-out was one of the determining factors in Sunday’s result, West Coast running out of steam in the final term and being held to just three points by an experienced Saints side.
Simpson said the team will focus on improving consistency across all four quarters when the team faces Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday.
“That’s our challenge, for a young group coming through, to get consistency,” Simpson said.
“Not just in a game, but in quarters at the moment. It’s a pretty big ask this week so we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
While the young Eagles won’t be phased by the short six-day turnaround between games, Simpson said it will be a good test when they match up with some of the league’s finest this weekend.
“I suspect the older guys know what’s in front of them, with the travel and the flights and that sort of stuff, the young guys don’t care, they just want to play,” Simpson said.
“What we did see on the weekend with the younger players was their ability to express themselves, and almost to have the freedom to play on instinct and those types of things, so I think that’s what we’ll encourage again this week.
“We’ll get to see how some of those guys go against some really good A-grade players, against probably the best side in the competition on their home deck.”
