West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson admits Isiah Winder “made a mistake” and says he “needs to work on some things”, amid a Victoria Police investigation into an alleged assault in Geelong.
The 20-year-old rookie is at the centre of a police investigation following an alleged assault after last week’s AFL/AFLPA Indigenous and Multicultural Summit.
He had attended the four-day summit with more than 100 fellow First Nations players from across the AFL.
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“What we do know is it looks like he made a mistake at the indigenous camp with the function they had afterwards, and then unfortunately it led to an incident (on) Friday night,” Simpson said on SEN radio on Wednesday.
“We’re heading in a direction that he needs to join in on, and unfortunately he’s made a mistake.
“So he’s part of our program still; he’ll just be training off site with our WAFL Eagles team, he’s still got access to the club and the resources.
“But he just needs to work on some things to get to where he needs to be to be part of our list.
“So, we’ll reassess things back in early January when he comes back and just see how he’s responded, and (he’ll) work through some things he needs to work on on his own, and … some of the things we need to help him with, too, because he’s a 20-year-old rookie-list player. So, finding the balance between the two is important for us.”
Winder, a Peel Thunder product, landed at the Eagles via pick 57 in the 2020 AFL national draft.
The medium-sized forward was delisted at the end of the 2022 season but won back a spot on West Coast’s list through the rookie draft.
“We do need to acknowledge the standards you ignore are the standards you accept,” Simpson added.
“So, we need to move forward in the direction we want to go, as well.”
Winder played seven AFL games in his first two seasons as an Eagle, including six in 2022.
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