Adam Simpson has declared West Coast is “up for the fight” ahead of an unprecedented AFL season restart on the Gold Coast.
But the Eagles’ senior coach hopes his side’s four-game block of matches in Queensland will be the end of life in a hub for players and staff.
West Coast will temporarily relocate to Royal Pines Resort early next month to help the League get the stalled campaign underway again, and will even ‘host’ reigning premier Richmond at Metricon Stadium – the home of the Suns.
Given the WA State Government’s strict border controls and quarantine requirements, the club is still uncertain how the rest of the season will take shape after round five is completed against the Tigers.
“It’s probably part of the anxiety players and staff have, not knowing how long we’re going to be over in Queensland,” Simpson told Channel Seven.
“Our preference is four weeks. We’ve been given the first four rounds, so our expectation is we’re heading back to Perth after that Richmond game.
“That would make things pretty difficult if we had to do a second hub without coming home.
“We’re up for the fight, we’re up to play anywhere, but there’s a certain line we’ve got to not cross as well where it becomes really difficult to perform.
“Looking at the draw, it looks like something we can manage. Looking forward to getting up there and getting amongst it and we’ll see how we go after the first four games.”
Simpson was surprised by the scheduled ‘home’ clash with Richmond in a Thursday night blockbuster but isn’t rushing to judge the fixture until the entire season’s draw is revealed.
“I think you’ve got to look at the whole season. It’s hard to make a judgement on one game,” he said.
“I think all teams in the (Queensland) hub are playing a home game there and it gives us a bit of an opportunity to use our signage and promote our sponsors, I suppose, but we’ll see how it looks at the end of the season.”