Dual premiership player David King says Adam Simpson has a unique coaching mind and has praised West Coast’s tremendous 2020 offensive conversion rate and a forward line which has begun to click at the right time.
Speaking to Gerard Whateley on SEN radio, King praised Simpson who has reached his sixth consecutive finals series in charge at West Coast.
“He sees the game differently to other coaches and I think he is quite a lateral coach,” King says.
“Part of their system involves being able to convert their inside 50’s into scores.”
West Coast has been in the top two for the last three seasons at converting inside 50's into scores and features a 24.5% goal efficiency rate according to AFL.com.au.
The Eagles have three current or previous All Australians in their forward line (Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling and Liam Ryan) accounting for 1,112 goals throughout their careers.
King, a Fox Footy expert and former team mate of Simpson, says Liam Ryan is the most in-form player of the competition.
“Keep your eye on Liam Ryan and what he can do, he is in some serious form.”
However, the supply is also a factor which has helped West Coast produce a solid second half to the 2020 season.
King praised the ability of West Coast’s midfield led by All-Australian ruckman Nic Naitanui who has helped the club produce the most dangerous centre square scoring conversion this season.
“They are the number one team at scoring from centre bounces for the season, how do you stop Nic Nat? your guess is as good as mine, King declared.”
West Coast is also the number one ranked team for scoring from stoppages inside 50 over the past six rounds.
However, King believes the elimination final on Saturday night at Optus Stadium will be a tight contest with Collingwood’s dynamic midfield set to make for a fascinating encounter in front of up to 35,000 fans.
