WEST Coast coach Adam Simpson has signed a three-year contract extension that will see him remain with the Eagles until the end of the 2019 season.
Simpson was already contracted until the end of 2016 but has been rewarded for his outstanding work in his first two seasons in charge of the Eagles, as he took the club from 13th in 2013 to a losing Grand Final appearance in 2015.
The 39-year-old told the Eagles website that he still had plenty of work to do over the next four seasons.
'They make you pay': Simpson rues Grand Final failure
"It is very pleasing to receive a contract extension to continue to build on the vision for the squad and the club," Simpson said.
"We fully understand the challenges ahead as we strive for sustained success and we're ready to roll up our sleeves and do the work required.
"We have an exciting young group that is still building and this week we brought four more young players into the squad via the draft.
"The players will all resume next week and we are looking forward to starting the next phase of our development. We know we have to improve because this competition does not stand still."
Eagles chairman Alan Cransberg said it was a straightforward decision to extend Simpson's contract.
"Adam has made a terrific start to his coaching career at the West Coast Eagles and we were keen to have him commit for a further three years," Cransberg said.
"We have seen strong improvement in the team's performance over the last two seasons, reaching the Grand Final this year, but the club is working towards a goal of sustained success.
"Adam and the playing group have made strong strides towards that target in the last two years, but we are certainly not satisfied simply by playing in a Grand Final. We want to become a competition benchmark and we believe we are on track.”
Simpson will take control of a different looking Eagles squad when the senior players return for the start of pre-season on Monday. The Eagles have lost veterans Matt Rosa and Scott Selwood as well as back-up ruckman Callum Sinclair.
They have added Lewis Jetta, Jack Redden and Jonathan Giles via trades. They will also regain key defenders Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown who missed all of last season with knee injuries.
The Eagles also added youngsters Luke Partington, Tom Cole, Kurt Mutimer and Matthew Allen at Tuesday's NAB AFL draft. Partington, Cole and Mutimer are all midfield runners while Allen is a 192cm lead-up forward.
Simpson has spent this week visiting the families of the new draftees as none of them are West Australian players.
The Eagles are set to re-draft Alec Waterman and Brant Colledge in Friday's NAB AFL Rookie Draft after the pair were delisted in October. Both have been training with the Eagles this week.
