‘Unacceptable’: Coach admits harsh reality in flogging

The bottom-placed West Coast Eaglesare struggling for answers after the club suffered one the worst defeats in it’s history, losing to Hawthorn by 116 points.

The Hawks – who came into the game equal last – did a demolition job on the Eagles in the 22. 10. (142) – 4. 2. (26) win, kicking 11 unanswered goals in the second half.

Coach Adam Simpson was scathing of his side’s effort post-game in a result that meant Hawthorn was the third bottom-placed side in VFL/AFL history to win a game by at least 100 points.

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“Extremely disappointing, not good enough, unacceptable,” he said.

“We’re all going to have to do a lot of work in a short space of time, disappointing, not a lot to take out of that at all.”

Asked if he had a message for the club’s supporters after such an embarrassing loss, Simpson wasn’t in the mood for offerings.

“I’m not buying into ‘What’s your message to the fans’,” he said.

Jones adds to Eagles misery

The Eagles injury crisis worsened when Jamaine Jones left the field with an ankle injury, while Liam Duggan also failed to finish the game after succumbing to neck problems.

West Coast currently has 16 players in its casualty ward, with players like Luke Shuey (3-4 weeks), Nic Naitanui (6-7 weeks) and Jeremy McGovern (5-6 weeks) still not close to a return date.

Simpson described the Eagles side that ran out at UTAS Stadium as the “youngest group we’ve had in years”.

West Coast will have a six-day turnaround before they play Essendon on Saturday and the Simpson admitted it could be a similar side that walks onto Optus Stadium.

“At the moment we don’t have a choice, the list of players available doesn’t go past 26,” he said.

“Some of the younger players that played today [still] needed some more time at reserve level to gain some confidence so we’re asking a lot.

“I don’t think we can point the finger at the 18-year-olds but collectively we weren’t good enough and they were part of that so we’ll work through that with them individually – as a collective we need to try and bounce back.”

Also quizzed how the club would handle the intense media scrutiny after the loss, Simpson was blunt in his response.

“You’ve been doing it all year so that’s water off a ducks back,” he said.

Lewis kicks six

Young forward Mitchell Lewis was the star for Hawthorn, kicking a career-high six goals, while veteran Luke Bruest booted three.

James Sicily and Conor Nash lead the way in disposals for the Hawks with 30 while Eagles star Dom Sheed finished on the same amount.

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