RELIEF swept across an anxious Domain Stadium when the final siren sounded on an eight-point West Coast win on Friday night, but nobody breathed easier than star goalkicker Josh Kennedy.
The usually dead-eye dual Coleman medallist caught a dose of the yips early in the final term, squandering three shots at goal and the chance to bury the Western Bulldogs.
Inevitably, the visitors fought back from 20 points down to close within seven points in the dying stages, but the Eagles held on to improve to 6-2 and exact some revenge for last year's elimination final loss.
"I'm hoping it's just an event," Simpson said of Kennedy's wayward goalkicking. "You just get the yips sometimes.
"I think he's as relieved as anyone we got over the line without him having to convert those.
"What did he kick, 3.6? So we did a lot of things right, but we did a lot of things wrong too.
"It was one of those games that was pretty evenly-balanced and we did well to hold on."
Five talking points: West Coast v Western Bulldogs
The Eagles couldn't put the never-say-die Dogs away despite leading by as much as four goals early in the third term.
Luke Beveridge's men caught a sniff of another come-from-behind victory, but Simpson praised the Eagles for holding on grimly after kicking 1.9 in the second half.
"Both teams had opportunities. I suppose in the last quarter when the Bulldogs threw caution to the wind we could have iced it there with a couple of missed shots, but we knew they wouldn't go away, it's in their DNA," he said.
"I was pretty proud of our players to punch out a good four quarters, albeit in the second half our accuracy and inability to convert some good opportunities was disappointing.
"But for the most part we're pretty happy."
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The Eagles were smashed by the Bulldogs in contested ball during last year's final, and after being beaten up by Richmond and Hawthorn this year, playing with intent has been a major focus.
West Coast only narrowly lost the contested possession count 127-132 to the Dogs and was hard around the ball all night.
WATCH Adam Simpson's full post-match press conference
"The numbers sometimes don't reflect what's going on, but I thought for the most part we competed really well with our intent," Simpson said.
"There are some things we need to work on around the ball and with our ball movement.
"But in the last couple of weeks our defence has been on, and I think it's been due to the good pressure we're putting on around the ball."
Simpson praised veteran recruit Sam Mitchell (33 possessions), who equaled St Kilda champion Robert Harvey's record of 118 games of 30-plus disposals and was highly influential early when the heat was on.
The Eagles coach was also pleased with Fraser McInnes' (15 hit-outs) efforts coming in to ruck alongside Nathan Vardy (21) against Tom Boyd (34).
"I thought Frase really competed and Vards did what he's been doing all year," Simpson said.
"Obviously it wasn't a strength for both teams, I thought they nullified each other."
