JEREMY McGovern appears the likely short-term replacement for Jack Darling after a solid showing up forward during West Coast's eight-point win over the AFL Indigenous All Stars in an exhibition match in Perth on Friday night.
McGovern kicked the Eagles' opening goal of the match, a 55-metre bomb from a set shot. He also provided a powerful aerial presence with both Brad Sheppard and Andrew Gaff crumbing goals from packs that McGovern competed in.
The 22-year-old was used as a swingman during his debut season.
But with Darling unlikely to play in round one as he continues his rehabilitation from a stress fracture in his foot, Simpson said McGovern would likely stay up forward.
"We are going to look at it," Simpson said.
"It depends who we play as well. We've got a pretty tall backline. We think some of our talls can play small.
"‘Gov’ may need to have a presence up forward. He's a natural player. Wherever you put him, he's going to have an impact.
"We saw some good signs tonight, but also he looked a bit rusty."
Simpson stressed that he wouldn't read too much into the performance of his team on Friday night.
He was excited by the performance of some of his young players, including Tom Lamb.
The blonde forward was taken with pick No.32 in last year's NAB AFL Draft. He has a Dyson Heppell-like hairstyle, idolizes Nick Riewoldt, and spent his first week at the club shadowing Josh Kennedy. Lamb came on in the last quarter on Friday night and kicked a clutch goal from a tight angle to seal the win.
"I think Lamb is going to stand out because of what he looks like," Simpson said.
"But he's exciting. He's got plenty of energy and he gets rewarded, he gets the ball. He's still got a little bit to work on but it's just an opportunity for the kids to play in front of good crowd in an enthusiastic game. It was really pleasing."
Sharrod Wellingham was also impressive coming off a good pre-season but Simpson said he expected the ex-Magpie to perform.
"We see him as a quality player and he's in our best 18 so we expect him to play well every week and (it was) a good first step today," Simpson said.
The coach said he would likely bring back his senior players next week for the Eagles’ first NAB Challenge clash against Carlton.
Shannon Hurn, Matt Priddis, Eric Mackenzie, Josh Kennedy, Mark LeCras, Nic Naitanui, Luke Shuey, Xavier Ellis and Matt Rosa were all rested against the All Stars but all appear set to play most of the NAB Challenge.
"We've got three games, with a healthy break between each game," Simpson said.
"Last year we rested a lot of our guys for the second game (of the NAB Challenge).
"We will probably play a stronger squad most weeks to get the continuity. There's plenty of rest between. I don't want to rest senior players and have a 20-day break between games."
