Friends. Family. Flags.

Those are the pillars that propelled the West Coast Eagles to its memorable 2018 premiership triumph.

At the centre of that ideology, figuratively and literally, is family.

Since arriving at the club in 2014, senior coach Adam Simpson has preached the importance of family to his players and staff, repeatedly reaffirming that the health of one’s home front comes before anything else.

It was the reason Simpson did not hesitate to hand the coaching reins over to assistant Jaymie Graham and board a plane bound for Perth just hours before the club’s round two clash with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium in 2018 after learning that his youngest daughter, Elsa, had been hospitalised due to illness.

It is also why premiership forward Jamie Cripps felt comfortable enough to approach Simpson and request to leave the club’s second Queensland hub stint to be at the beck and call of his fiancé, Liv, who was expecting the couple’s first child.

West Coast’s hierarchy knew that Cripps would have to depart the Gold Coast at some point to attend his baby’s arrival, but, as has been the case on countless occasions throughout 2020, things did not go according to plan.

“I got a call from Liv on the day of Richmond game and she said there were a few little issues ahead of the baby’s arrival,” Cripps said.

“Everyone was healthy, but there were a few minor dramas and we thought the baby was going to come early. I had to change my flight, play the game and fly back to Perth the next morning to start my quarantine for 14 days.

“I wanted to get my 14 days of quarantine done so I didn’t have any issues getting into the hospital when the little fella arrived.

“The club always knew it was a possibility that I’d be heading home early. I was hoping that I’d play at least three games before I headed back – that was factoring in the baby arriving a little earlier than its arrival date – but that’s not how it played out.”

As luck would have it, Cripps’ little bundle of joy, Reif, arrived five days after his fortnight-long quarantine period finished.

The 28-year-old said he was thrilled to be a father and join the ever-expanding Eagles “dad gang”.

“I just can’t wait to watch him grow up,” Cripps said of baby Reif.

“I haven’t done any parenting courses, so I guess I’ll have to wing fatherhood a little bit. And I haven’t changed a nappy before, so I’ll have to learn how to do that pretty quickly.

“I guess he’ll be a little father-son, if he wants to play footy that is.”

With everything playing out perfectly at home – minus the lack of sleep – Cripps is eager to get back to doing his thing on the footy field.

Fortunately the Northampton product was allowed to continue training during his quarantine spell, albeit under strict rules imposed by the Western Australian Government, so he did not lose a yard of pace.

Now he’s ready to launch into another finals campaign and help the Eagles vie for a fifth premiership title.

“I’m not a very good footy watcher, so it was bloody tough watching the boys play when I was stuck at home in quarantine,” Cripps admitted.

“I’d much rather be out there trying to help the boys and play my role for the team.

“I haven’t lost any fitness, so I’ll be able to slot straight back in to the side if they need me. Hopefully we can get a few boys back towards the first final.

“I think a fair few of the injured boys will be putting their hand, which is great because the condensed fixture hurt us a little bit.”

Cripps was particularly excited to reunite with livewire Liam Ryan, arguably the game’s hottest player of the past month.

Ryan has been especially influential in tight contests of late, igniting the Eagles with polished ball use, scintillating score assists and electrifying goals when their backs were against the wall.

“He’s taken his game to the next level,” Cripps said of Ryan.

“He’s a hard worker and he can stand up in the big moments. I love watching him play and love having him in the team.

“He’s only going to get better and I suppose this year he’s probably taken his leadership to another level with me being out and Josh Kennedy being out for a few games.

“The same goes for Brendon Ah Chee as well, who has been up forward all of this year.

“Those two have really taken big steps forward and I cannot wait to get back out there and play with them.”