Senior coach Adam Simpson says West Coast is prepared to find a way to handle more matches squeezed into a shorter timeframe at the start of the season if necessary.

The AFL has confirmed the 2020 campaign will commence as scheduled, and has committed to keeping the first four rounds as fixtured – meaning the Eagles will still play Melbourne, St Kilda, Geelong and Port Adelaide – although the breaks between games could be shorter.

With the fixture being reduced from 22 games to 17 by the AFL in a bid to complete the season, each club will play the others once, with the new schedule yet to be confirmed. 

“We’ve got Melbourne on Sunday, so that’s our priority and that’s been pretty typical that preparation for that game,” Simpson told Fox Footy.

“Looking into the future and how we handle those games in a short amount of time is the next challenge, but hopefully we get to work through that – that would be semi-fun.”

The season could be interrupted as the COVID-19 virus spreads through the community and Simpson is considering what that scenario would mean for his players.

“I’ve given it a little bit of thought and what we can do to keep the players energised as well,” he said.

“The other issue you do have is they’re competitors, we want to play, we want to compete.

“There is only so many intraclubs you can have, even the little indoor soccer and cricket games we have have gone to another level.

“The whole (18) clubs and the AFL industry is hurting through this and understanding it’s going to be a difficult time in front of us.

“It’s real, but if we deal with it together and deal with it the right way I’m sure we’ll come through.”