WEST Coast's fill-in coach Jaymie Graham didn't stress with the late call-up to take over the matchday duties at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Graham said it was a seamless transition after senior coach Adam Simpson flew back to Perth late on Saturday night when illness forced his youngest daughter to be hospitalised.
"It didn't bring any problems, it just meant we had to shuffle a few things," he said.
"All the work and preparation had been done during the week and, obviously, the line coaches all played their role.
"It just meant I had a few extra stresses to think about during the day, but nothing really changed."
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Graham, an Eagles assistant coach since 2014, was senior coach for the AFLX tournament and had previously coached WAFL affiliate East Perth.
"The most pleasing part for the whole club is the fact that the players really stood up in 'Simmo's' absence, our leaders … the likes of Shannon Hurn, Luke Shuey, Mark LeCras as a forward, Nic (Naitanui) in the ruck," he said.
"Simmo would be proud of how they led. And all our young boys had an impact and brought energy which is really exciting for the club.
"I'm sure it was (a distraction) for Simmo and his family, but as far as the players go, they acted very professionally and it was business as usual.
"We were pleased with some of the style of play and it's something the boys have been working on since November. It's great to get an away win, I can't shy away from that. But we have a very different group now."
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Graham said the theme of his address to the players after an even opening quarter was to concentrate on their pre-game planning.
"We had clear focuses all week going into the game. It was tight and we just went back to those focuses. We reviewed them and we wanted to review them again at half-time. Pretty basic and the boys stuck to their task," he said.
Returning West Coast ruck ace Nic Naitanui had 56 percent game time, up slightly from the opening round. And he contributed 33 hit-outs and eight possessions in the thumping win.
"He's progressing well," Graham said.
He's getting good minutes and pulling up well. That's the main thing, how he pulls up and we progress from there. He gets first hands on it and lifts the rest of the group around him, so we were really happy with his performance."
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Graham said Simpson sounded upbeat on the family situation as well as happy with the win.
"I did give him a quick call and he was at the bedside," he said.
"I would say he would've watched the match, definitely tuned in. He's very proud of the performance of the players. He seemed pretty happy, so hopefully, everything is fine."
