West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson says he’s delighted with the Eagles’ four selections at this year’s national draft.
The Eagles went into the draft with picks 23, 31, 61 and 69 but due to academy and father-son bidding ended up executing selections 28, 36, 57 and 62.
The club claimed hard running South Australian midfielder Luke Partington with its opening selection, followed by Tom Cole (36), then secured another midfielder in Kurt Mutimer (57) before rounding out the process by nominating ruckman-forward Matthew Allen (62).
The new Eagles will relocate to Perth over the weekend and be eased into training next week.
Simpson says it’s now his job to help the boys work towards playing AFL football for the Eagles.
“In terms of what we got we’re really happy, we went in with a plan and we executed it,” Simpson told Eagle Eye TV.
“We have a bit of a ranking system of what we need, but also the best (talent) available, a bit of a combination.
“When we got to the pick we wanted we were really happy with what we got.
“All the recruiters told me (jokingly) we nailed it, so it’s over to me now.”
Simpson says he has full faith in the Eagles recruiting staff and doesn’t fall into the trap of being a coach trying to have too much influence over the draft process.
“I wish I could claim more credit, I’m part of the process,” he said.
“I ask questions but having influence on the order, I think, is really difficult.
“They (the recruiting staff) watch thousands of hours of vision and I might watch 10 minutes.
“I’ll have questions to ask and quite often they’ll be answered in the right way.”
The Eagles again drafted players entirely from other states, so the road trip begins with Simpson, Player Services Manager Ian Miller & Co. heading out to meet the new Eagles’ families and congratulate them on joining the AFL as well as outline the process of relocating the boys to WA.
“That’s the next step now, we make contact, we drive to all parts of the country,” he said.
“We’ve got two South Australian boys, I think one of them is seven hours away (from Adelaide).
“So we’ve got to get in the car, go and say g’day and bring them back in the next week or two.”
