Adam Simpson is not looking for any special favours from the All-Australian selection committee this year.
West Coast stars Matt Priddis and Eric Mackenzie both missed out on the 2014 team, despite claiming the Brownlow Medal and Worsfold Medal respectively after personally outstanding campaigns last year.
Simpson told 6PR that he was unfazed by the lack of exposure for WA-based players in the All-Australian team.
Priddis better than last year: Simpson
“I don’t think they pay much attention to the WA sides,” Simpson said.
“You would have thought Eric Mackenzie and Matt Priddis might have been half a chance last year, so who knows.
“There’s so many teams in Victoria and so much time they can give those teams and all the shows are based from there.
“I don’t think anyone here’s particularly worried. We know how we’re going and I’m sure Freo know how they’re going, we don’t need others to tell us.”
As the 2015 season reaches the halfway mark, clubs are taking stock of their progress so far, while continuing to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead.
Simpson said he has been pleased with the condition of his players as they head into the bye, paying tribute to the club's head of strength and conditioning Warren Kofoed for his careful management.
“Warren Kofoed has been really meticulous this year and both of us have learned a lot from last year,” Simpson said.
“We changed training, we train on different days and have different days off than we did in the old regime.
“I think we’ve adapted better this year, we’ve handled shorter breaks and we don’t train perhaps as long as we do on those short breaks.
“I think it’s paying us back with some performances and the players are in reasonably good condition for this time of year.”
One game remains for the Eagles before the bye and the team travels to Melbourne this week to face Richmond at the MCG on Friday night.
Simpson is hopeful Jeremy McGovern will be available to line up against the tall Tiger forwards, particularly Jack Riewoldt who he rates as a potential match-winner.
“I watched the first quarter of the Fremantle game with the coaches and we did notice their three talls aren’t your normal three talls in terms of positioning,” Simpson said.
“We’re not overly blessed with height in our backline, but we tend not to worry too much about match-ups because we just can’t do it, we don’t have enough personnel.
"We’ll look at [Riewoldt] though because he’s an exceptional player and on his day he can win games off his own boot."
