Adam Simpson full of belief in former side ahead of WA derby

Former West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson has confidently expressed that his former team can muster the belief to win Round 4’s West Australian derby.

Both West Coast and Fremantle enter the clash without a win in 2025, with the Eagles yet to register a result under new coach Andrew McQualter.

With West Coast managing a series split in 2024 thanks to a shocking 37-point victory in Round 6, it is not out of the question that the Eagles have what it takes to claim the four points, particularly following their strong effort against the reigning premiers last Sunday.

When asked by Scott Cummings and Tim Gossage as to whether the Eagles will enter the contest with the faith that they can win, Simpson’s response was assured.

“Absolutely,” he told SEN WA Breakfast.

“This is exactly the same as last year. I think they will be going in with a lot of confidence.

“The problem with West Coast is that it has been hard for a number of years now. It has been two or three years.

“So, getting that expectation that ‘we are going to win this week’, that’s hard. You need some evidence.

“I know they would have to have some metrics that they are chasing that regardless of the win, we want to be good at this.

“If that’s clearances, contested possessions, ball movement, whatever they have got there, that’s what they are chasing. ‘If we do this well, we will win this boys’.

“That’s not ‘let’s just win’, it’s ‘let’s play the way that Mini (McQualter) wants us to play’, which I thought we saw a bit of in the first half last week.”

The derby kicks off this Sunday afternoon at Optus Stadium.