WEST Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett will commence discussions with the club next year that will likely lead to the end of his distinguished 30-year involvement with the club.
He has held the same position with the Eagles for the last 20 years and together with Geelong's Brian Cook, his predecessor at West Coast, he is the longest serving chief executive in the AFL.
Having overseen the move from Subiaco Oval to Optus Stadium this year for home games, 2019's opening of the club's new training and administrative base at Lathlain Park is likely to bring down the curtain on his time with the Eagles, at least in a full-time capacity.
Before replacing Cook in 1999, he spent 10 years with the Eagles as football manager.
"I'll get us out to Lathlain Park and then I'll start to make some decisions and have a chat to the board," he told the AFL Record. "We'll be out there next year, so by this time next year we'll have a firm direction with my tenure."
It has been a year of extreme contrasts for the Eagles. West Coast has been superb on field, winning through to a home preliminary final, while blooding eight debutants. The move to Optus Stadium has been an unqualified success, with an average home crowd of almost 54,000 per game.
Tempering that was the injury to star ruckman Nic Naitanui which culminated in an ugly incident between a club official and waiting media when he returned to Perth airport that night and Andrew Gaff's strike of Fremantle's Andrew Brayshaw, which resulted in a season-ending eight-match suspension for the star wingman.
Nisbett reiterated the club's remorse over both episodes, although he remains disappointed they have been linked together and spoken of as examples of a widespread cultural issue at the club.
Still, 30 years spent in the hurly-burly of the game has given Nisbett a sense of perspective.
"You never get through a year without an incident and we're just unfortunate we had a couple of big ones," he said.
Nisbett heaped praise on coach Adam Simpson, who is now contracted through until the end of 2022.
"His strength is that he's extremely calm in a crisis. I think he analyses things well, he's extremely prepared to take on advice and listen to people, and that's always a good trait in coaching because if you just become very narrow and focused and think there's only one way to go you get trapped in a bubble.
"He's quite happy to explore other opportunities and outside influences to see if there's a way to improve personally and the team to improve. His openness is extremely valuable to the club," he said.
The full interview appears in this week's edition of the AFL Record, on sale at Optus Stadium on Saturday for $10.
