OPPORTUNITIES will open up for fringe players at West Coast if the Eagles continue to deliver performances like they did against Geelong, according to coach Adam Simpson.
The Eagles' loss to Geelong on Saturday was their third loss of the year. All have come interstate and the average losing margin has been 43 points.
The Eagles have scarcely made any unforced changes following each loss. They made just one change after the Hawthorn loss in round two with Chris Masten returning from injury in place of Jamie Bennell.
They only made two changes following the loss to the Sydney Swans with Scott Lycett returning from suspension for Fraser McInnes, while Mark Hutchings came in on game day after Elliot Yeo was a late withdrawal with tonsillitis.
But Simpson told 6PR on Monday night that opportunities would present themselves for players in the WAFL if the senior side continued to falter as they did against the Cats.
"There's some players playing well (in the WAFL)," Simpson said.
"It's now about finding opportunity and when we lose like we did on the weekend there's always opportunity.
"We're still really excited about what our development program has given us and our list and where we're heading. Tom Cole and Jackson Nelson came over to Melbourne (as emergencies) and Patrick McGinnity is showing some really consistent form with his leadership as well, and Tommy Barrass."
Xavier Ellis is also ready to return after overcoming an Achilles injury he suffered in round one. Sam Butler missed the Cats loss with a groin issue but has been in good form this season.
New recruits Lewis Jetta and Jack Redden have come under scrutiny after relatively quiet starts to the year.
Simpson once again urged patience with the pair but he said that doesn't guarantee selection every week.
"We'll always have patience with our players," Simpson said.
"Whether it means every week they get a free pass to play, that's a little bit different.
"We've got to have patience on our new recruits and working through some areas that clearly they need to work on is important. We need to keep working through that with 'Jetts'.
"I think he's been disappointing the last couple of weeks and he's the first to admit that. He understands what he needs to work on.
"(Redden is) still working on what to do playing on A-grade talent and also trying to win the footy himself. Sometimes it's a fine skill to try and stop someone and win the ball. At the moment I think there's some hits and misses with our players when they do that."
Simpson said the review of the Geelong game wasn't pretty viewing on Monday. But he said the Eagles merely needed to fix up some fundamental skill errors.
"I actually woke up this morning feeling pretty positive about some of the things that we can work on," Simpson said.
"They're just the fundamentals. They're the basics of footy that we all expect consistency from our players and particularly our leaders. So I've got pretty clear direction on what we need to work on."
