In a week when Shannon Hurn is set to play his 300th game, there was something fitting about West Coast coach Adam Simpson praising his team for better adherence to the 'basics and fundamentals'.
While Hurn is renowned for flying under the radar in a public sense, when he speaks about the game you can be assured the former skipper will rate ‘playing good team football’ and ‘doing the basics well’ as keys to success.
So although it might not grab the headlines, Simpson’s enjoyment seeing his side improve their workrate and effort in recent wins over St Kilda and Adelaide resonated strongly.
“We have played for a long period of time in patches, where for 10 minutes we’re really, really hard to stop,” Simpson told reporters on Friday before the team flew to Melbourne to face Collingwood.
“We get on top in a lot of areas and get real bang for buck.
“But sustained workrate, effort, four-quarter performance, that’s what’s been missing this year - the basics and the fundamentals.
“I think last week and the week before we’re getting closer to a consistent style of play.
“You don’t get that 10 minutes of burst play, you get more of a grind out of it all.
“That’s what good teams do.”
Heading to an empty MCG to face the Magpies behind closed doors, the Eagles have the opportunity to consolidate a top-eight spot against one of their greatest foes.
Collingwood has been competitive in every game this year – not losing by more than five goals – and has been playing an aggressive brand in five matches under caretaker coach Robert Harvey.
“Collingwood are a different side, they’re different to when ‘Bucks’ (Nathan Buckley) was coach,” Simpson said.
“They’ve got a different style of play, very aggressive, very bold, pretty attacking. It’s going to be a big challenge for us.
“They take the game on and they’ve been pretty good in the contest.
“They haven’t been blown away at all, for the whole year I don’t think they’ve been beaten by more than 30 points. Compare that to a couple of our losses, it looks a bit different.
“Their pressure has increased, their defence has probably tightened up a little bit – the way they defend – and they’re a lot more attacking, so they’re a genuine threat, that’s for sure.”
West Coast has brought back a pair of Jacks – Redden and Petruccelle – for the clash, with Liam Ryan (hamstring) and Mark Hutchings (omitted) making way.
The team will be hoping to honour Hurn in the same way as Nic Naitanui and Jeremy McGovern’s recent milestones with an important victory as the 33-year-old becomes the first Eagle to reach the triple century.
“He’s a legacy player for us. He’ll be remembered forever at this club. Premiership captain,” Simpson said.
“I remember when we first voted him in (as captain) – the players voted him in – he was a bit of a left-field decision and one when I got to the club you didn’t really understand.
“Then you’re there for 10 minutes and you know why. He just hasn’t let us down since then and even now he does it in his own way, and he hasn’t changed a bit.
“I think his form has been as good as it’s been for 10 years.
"Very consistent person, and very consistent player."
