ADAM Simpson says he will continue backing his players to fight through West Coast's worrying slump after sparing some out of form Eagles the axe in the wake of two dismal losses to Port Adelaide and Geelong.
The premiership mentor declared making statements at the selection table is not part of his coaching method, and Simpson is putting faith in his side to turn things around against Gold Coast on Saturday night.
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The Eagles have made only one change to the line-up which was embarrassed in a 58-point collapse at the Cattery, recalling Jack Redden from Achilles soreness for youngster Jarrod Brander.
"I'm not into statements at selection, that's not my go," Simpson said after making only the second unforced change to the side in two weeks.
"If the form is poor enough that it warrants someone who is in good form at WAFL Eagles then we'll make a change.
"We need our senior players playing well. To the point where we drop them and try to get them back in form - we did that with (Nathan) Vardy.
"We're not afraid to do that, but at the moment we're going to keep backing our players in."
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Simpson admitted Jake Waterman – who shares the WAFL goalkicking lead with 13 majors – would likely have been picked but the emerging forward is unavailable with a corked leg.
Francis Watson (AC joint) and Jarrod Cameron (wrist) were other casualties from the reserves' impressive win over an in-form Claremont outfit.
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The Eagles have the chance to address some concerning trends against the Suns, who have dropped off in heavy losses to Adelaide and Brisbane after a competitive start.
West Coast has been smashed in contested ball in the past three weeks (-84), while scoring has dropped significantly since the reigning premier booted 98 points in the round three Grand Final rematch.
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Individuals have come under the microscope, most notably Jack Darling who has gone scoreless in the past two games and taken three marks.
But the forward line has been starved of supply – with fewer than 40 inside 50 against both Port and the Cats – and the Eagles are averaging only 56 points across the last three games.
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"That’s one of the questions that you ask, is it our forwards out of form or is the fact is we're not getting over 40 inside 50s part of the issue as well?" Simpson said.
"It's a bit of both. All of our players have got a couple of little things they need to really focus on and they'll do that with their individual preparation.
"But the collective is the important thing at the moment, so let's get that right first."
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The Eagles hope electric small forward Willie Rioli will be available to play within three weeks after a foot stress fracture, while star ruckman Nic Naitanui is back taking part in match simulation.
Naitanui is unlikely to return before the round 13 bye coming back from his second knee reconstruction.
"It's going well. We haven't had a setback yet. The previous knee for Nic was difficult and we had some setbacks along the way," Simpson said.
"Every level he advances to there's some concerns about he's going to handle that, but he hasn't seemed to be too concerned, each level he's ticked off.
"We'll just keep going until the docs say he's available. We're not rushing him back.
"It's time to start doing some match sim."
