No matter the ladder position or finals contention, the RAC Derby is always a highly anticipated match-up for WA footy fans.
In what looks to be played in front of sell out crowd, West Coast coach Adam Simpson said the 57th RAC Derby will be a big game for the club.
“We’ve been out of contention probably since round 11 or 12, so we’ve been chasing process really for the whole year and we won’t really change,” Simpson said on Friday.
“It’s a big game for the club, I think it’s almost a sell out and a Derby is always good to be part of.
“But nothing much changes from what we’ve been chasing for the last four or five weeks in particular, we’ve seen a little bit of improvement, so we’ll continue with that.”
Playing in front of the Eagles faithful, Saturday night under lights, Simpson said it will be a great opportunity for the young players to experience.
“Those young ones who’ve only really tasted senior football this year, they’ve been part of some big games at home, our crowd has turned up and we want to show appreciation as much as we can,” Simpson said.
“A big crowd like this, that’s probably a step up, it’s as close to a finals atmosphere as you can get, and that’s the beauty of playing at West Coast, playing at the stadium, playing in this state, you get the opportunity to do that.
“As much as there’s no finals on the line, or potential to make finals, that experience is something that’s really hard to get without getting into finals, so we’ll take that.”
On the back of an impressive few weeks from Fremantle’s Luke Jackson, Adam Simpson said Bailey Williams will be faced with a challenge this week, but it’s a challenge he’s been facing all season.
“It’s something Bailey has been carrying to a pretty good level, he’s 23, he’s probably going to end up a forward-ruck I think down the track,” Simpson said.
“Matching up with the A-grade talent that comes across ruckmen, there’s probably none bigger at the moment than what’s happened the last few weeks with Jackson’s rise, every stat you can look at he’s improved on.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for him (Williams), but he’s had that challenge all year.”
Not only will there be an important battle in the ruck, Simpson said the Eagles will be focusing on not letting Fremantle score from stoppages.
“Our stoppage work and scores from stoppages has been our biggest area that we’ve got to improve on,” Simpson said.
“I think our turnover game is holding up ok but the scores from stoppages are the ones we’re getting beaten heavily in, that starts with our mids and our rucks but its also both ends of the ground.
“That’s what we’re trying to get better at, we’re fronting a team that are really in a really good space, especially the last couple of weeks, so it’s going to be a pretty important battle.”
Fremantle’s backline, led by an in-form Luke Ryan, has been consistently dominant, but Simpson said the Eagles can’t focus on just one player.
“I went and watched the game on the weekend, their back six as a collective have been working pretty well for a long period of time,” Simpson said.
“You take out one and another one pops up, so their incept marking game, the support they show and the way they defend, taking one out might not stop their system.
“We’ll have to keep an eye on it though, because he (Ryan) can do some damage, intercept markers when they get their own way can have a real dominance in the game, so we’ll keep an eye on that.”
Although finals are no longer in the picture for either team, Simpson said he’d like the Eagles to finish the season strongly.
“We’d like to, we’re still not where we want to be, some of our guys are just hanging on to be honest, especially the older guys,” Simpson said.
“This week is a big game for the club and for our boys, next week we travel and play the Bulldogs away and then we’ve got Adelaide here at home as well, so we’ll just play our best, that’s all we can do.”
