West Coast has a “lot of work to do” to rebound from a bitterly disappointing effort against Gold Coast, coach Adam Simpson says.

The Eagles were badly beaten after a competitive first half, conceding eight goals to one as they fell to the energetic young Suns by 44 points at Metricon Stadium.

“Really disappointing night. They were really good, we were really bad,” a frank Simpson said post-match.

“Great leveller, this game. Everything we scouted they did and we couldn’t match them on the inside and they beat us on the outside as well.”

Despite relatively even clearance stats – with Nic Naitanui, Luke Shuey and Tim Kelly battling hard – the Eagles were thrashed by 22 in contested possessions on a typically slippery Gold Coast evening.

“I don’t think we handled the pressure well and I don’t think we handled the conditions well,” Simpson said.

“That’s something we’ve got to adapt, because we’re here for a while. They played a strong brand of football and they defended really well.

“We had moments, but not enough. Some sloppy free kicks, easy goals from stoppages. We’ve got a lot of work to do.

“I think it broke down through the contest the whole night. Everything we did was rushed, we didn’t win our one-on-ones and it was one of those nights you needed to win the contest to get field position and we didn’t.

“It was a poor performance.”

Skipper Shuey could hold his head high after gathering 25 disposals on a tough night, while Andrew Gaff (29) and Tim Kelly (24) provided support, but ultimately there were too few contributors.  

Simpson refused to blame the Eagles’ relocation to Royal Pines Resort as an excuse for the loss.

“You just cannot use that as a reason,” he said.

“I think we’ve got to give a lot of credit to Gold Coast. They’re going to be a very strong, competitive team, but they’re young and we’re more mature and they played like a mature side and we played like a young side.”

In the immediate aftermath of the defeat, Simpson recognised the need to improve quickly ahead of a challenging clash with Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday night.

But he was also wary of not overburdening the players with football given their unusual living circumstances.

“Just got to be careful. After a loss sometimes it’s good to get away with your families and detach a little bit, so we need to give them some space, but we’re going to review it and we need to get better,” Simpson said.

“Whether it’s our system or our ability to hunt that needs to improve we’ll look at that.”