The keys have officially changed hands, and West Coast interim coach Jarrad Schofield is urging his players to do Adam Simpson proud in Sunday’s AFL clash with the Brisbane Lions at Optus Stadium.
Schofield will coach the Eagles for the final seven rounds after the club called time on Simpson’s 11-year stint as coach.
West Coast (3-13) are in the midst of a six-match losing streak, with poor efforts against Hawthorn and Melbourne over the past fortnight costing Simpson his job.
Simpson had the chance to coach West Coast for one final time, but he declined the offer.
Instead, he will be honoured on the ground at Optus Stadium before the opening bounce of Sunday’s match.
Schofield wasted little time in making his first major call, axing Jack Darling for the first time in the veteran forward’s 293-game career.
Winger Campbell Chesser and defender Josh Rotham were also axed, while Jeremy McGovern will miss with his rib/lung injury.
Simpson’s coaching career at West Coast finishes at 242 games, just one behind Mick Malthouse.
Schofield heaped praise on Simpson, and he wants his players to do their former coach proud.
“I really hope the players show their respect because it’s been 11 years he’s led this football club,” Schofield said.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with him for two-and-a-half years. I’ve learned so much.
“So I really hope the boys honour that and respect that without getting too wound up in it as well.”
Schofield said it was unpredictable how each individual player would handle the situation.
“The emotion side of things, it’s going to be interesting,” he said.
“There’s going to be players that it will affect more than others but that’s up to us as coaches and us as a team to stay tight and just go out and perform and try and obviously remove that a little bit.”
Sydney assistant Dean Cox, who is one of West Coast’s most decorated past players, is the hot frontrunner to succeed Simpson as Eagles coach.
Schofield hasn’t declared whether he’ll throw his own hat into the ring, but his lengthy coaching apprenticeship at WAFL and AFL level suggests he will want to be in the mix.
As for Simpson’s advice to Schofield?
“Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the experience. The keys are yours,” Schofield said.
“He just said enjoy it and anything you need just sing out.”
Sunday’s match marks the 100-game milestone for premiership forward Liam Ryan.
Brisbane, last year’s losing grand finalists, have won five consecutive games to catapult themselves back into the premiership mix.
The Lions replaced injured defenders Jack Payne (foot) and Brandon Starcevich (concussion) with Shadeau Brain and Darragh Joyce.