West Coast coach Adam Simpson admits he isn’t sure what the process will be about determining his future after the Eagles finished their season with a 45-point defeat against Adelaide and won their second wooden spoon.
The Eagles led by 11 points at half-time but were over run as Taylor Walker took the lead in the Coleman Medal with nine goals and Adelaide won 17.21 (123) to 12.6 (78).
With North Melbourne beating Gold Coast earlier in the day, the Eagles finished the season on the bottom of the ladder which will give them the rights to highly rated number one draft pick Harley Reid.
West Coast’s board will now meet to decide whether to retain Simpson. He attempted to deflect questions about his future and put the focus on retiring greats Luke Shuey, Nic Naitanui and Shannon Hurn, but admitted he doesn’t know what will happen next.
“I don’t think tonight is the night to talk about my role,” he said.
“From here on, I’m not sure what happens. I’m contracted so we will see how it plays out.”
The fans showed their support for Simpson throughout the night with several signs hanging at the ground. They also cheered for him when he was shown on the big screen.
West Coast celebrated Shuey, Hurn and Naitanui’s outstanding careers and lifted their intensity in the first half. The revered trio received a guard of honour at the end of the game and Shuey said he was shocked at how normal the night felt.
“I’ve been waiting for the emotion to hit and I was waiting for the night to feel real different but it felt really normal,” Shuey said.
“We were realistically in the game until half way through the third (quarter) which probably helped the cause of feeling normal. But I’m content. I’m pretty exhausted. They’re a fit side and they were pretty sharp. I’m disappointed we couldn’t win it.”
Hurn retires as a premiership captain and the club’s games record holder. He said it had been an emotional night but was thankful that he had finished his career alongside Shuey and Naitanui.
“It was brilliant to be able to share it with Luke and Nic,” Hurn said.
“We played 15 years together or something like that. It’s a big part of your life and your footy life. We’ve become great mates, we’ve worked together really well and we’ve been fortunate enough to have pretty good success along the way. To be able to share that was really awesome.”
