DISAPPOINTED West Coast coach Adam Simpson admits his team's bye comes at just the right time as he battles to cope with a mounting injury list and some inconsistent performances from his players.
The reigning premiers have shown some excellent form at times this season, but were at their worst against the Swans on Sunday afternoon as they fell to a 45-point loss against John Longmire's side.
It was the fourth time this season that the Eagles have been beaten by more than 40 points and Simpson has a week off to ponder that worrying trend before their next match against Essendon on June 20.
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Simpson is hoping to regain a host of key players for that clash, with skipper Shannon Hurn (hamstring) and brilliant midfielder Elliot Yeo (calf) headlining the likely inclusions.
Star ruckman Nic Naitanui (knee) is also not too far away and Simpson said the week off to refresh has come at a good time for his side.
"We will take it," Simpson said when asked if he welcomes the bye.
"Hopefully we get some players back after the break, as we are missing a few like a lot of clubs.
"(Elliot) Yeo, (Nic) Naitanui, (Tom) Barrass and (Shannon) Hurn will find themselves back in the side pretty quickly."
While Simpson was bitterly disappointed with the Eagles' performance against the Swans, he believes they are still well-placed for another shot at the premiership this season.
"We are 8-4 and I think we are top four going into our week off," he said.
Liam Ryan looked to be 3 steps ahead of everyone throughout this passage of play!#AFLSwansEagles pic.twitter.com/fVDIvY4KT6
— AFL (@AFL) June 9, 2019
"It’s hard to get past tonight and we need to look at what we did and how we went about it and reflect on that.
"From the bigger-picture point of view, we will look at where we are at as a club and what we need to get better at as we need to get better."
WATCH Adam Simpson's full post-match press conference
Simpson said he has learnt plenty about his side through the first 12 rounds, given many of his team's victories have come under finals-like pressure.
"What has been pleasing for us this year is I reckon there has been five or six games that have felt like finals-type football for us," Simpson said.
"Our players have got that inner belief and we have learnt a lot about our resilience, (it's just) we didn't get that tonight."