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This wasn’t presupposed to occur to the West Coast Eagles.
They’re among the many wealthiest golf equipment in Australia, the second-most profitable workforce within the AFL period with 4 flags and a plethora of riches on and off the park.
But with one win for the season, a share of simply 47.3 and coming off the again of a club-worst 171-point loss to the Sydney Swans on Saturday — the Eagles are actually a laughing inventory, and the worth of that inventory is tumbling.
The end result was so dangerous chairman Paul Fitzpatrick wrote to supporters — by no means an excellent signal — labelling the loss as “unacceptable” and “one of many darkest days” within the membership’s historical past.
“We all know our members and followers are hurting and so is everybody contained in the soccer membership,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
“All of us take a level of accountability for the place we sit presently and equally we’re all dedicated to combating our manner by way of this example.”
Skipper Luke Shuey described Saturday’s end result as “surprising”, and mentioned the evaluate of the sport was a “bit extra brutal than weeks passed by”.
“Appropriately, let a workforce kick 200 factors, there’s not numerous constructive to come back out of that,” he mentioned.
In the meanwhile West Coast resemble the deplorable Melbourne sides of a decade in the past. Solely worse.
So is the membership only one extra flogging away from sacking the coach or chief govt?
The Eagles have seen darkish days earlier than, however have by no means sacked a coach mid-season.
Their one-goal effort towards Essendon at Windy Hill in 1989 was low, however cushioned by the very fact it was solely their third season.
There have been the Ken Choose days in 2000 and 2001.
Then the wilderness of 2008-2010, when in making an attempt to bury the party-boy ghosts of Cousins and Gardiner, the membership forgot learn how to play.
This weekend set a brand new benchmark for the way dangerous issues can get.
That is the bottom ebb. The accidents, the shortage of struggle, the huge margins.
It’s not what a fan base spoiled by many years of success is used to.
The place it went fallacious
The Eagles secured their fourth premiership in 2018, and in some ways it was their impossible.
It was a flag pinched in the midst of a Richmond dynasty.
Heading into season 2019, Eagles followers had been hopeful of a dynasty of their very own.
The checklist nonetheless regarded primed for rivalry, and there have been strikes behind the scenes to herald gun midfielder Tim Kelly from Geelong.
Then all of it went off the rails.
The rot set in across the time Willie Rioli tampered with a urine pattern in late 2019.
A day after the Rioli information broke, the shell-shocked membership dropped a semi-final to Geelong.
The subsequent yr they trudged off to a COVID hub in Queensland like sullen youngsters informed they had been grounded.
A vanity had breached the partitions and cracks had been showing.
Their first recreation within the hub towards Gold Coast was one a targeted Eagles facet ought to have waltzed in. They had been destroyed.
Coach Simpson was out of solutions.
“We’re getting forward of ourselves,” he mentioned after the sport, as proven within the documentary Making Their Mark. “F**king massive heads.”
The Eagles rebounded as soon as they received again to Perth and nonetheless managed to win a ultimate, however the premiership window had blown shut so softly most supporters did not hear it.
From dangerous to a lot, a lot worse
The membership lurched by way of a 2021 season the place its good was satisfactory, however its worst was deplorable.
The membership misplaced seven out of its final 9 video games, lacking the finals for the primary time since 2014.
However that season appears positively idyllic in comparison with what has occurred since.
After their checklist was decimated by COVID earlier than the beginning of final yr, they managed simply two wins all season.
And after loads of positivity pre-season, to date 2023 has been even worse.
A primary-up loss to North Melbourne was adopted by a win towards GWS earlier than catastrophe struck towards Fremantle.
After wanting good for the primary quarter, Shuey grasped at his hamstring and from there it was one catastrophe after one other.
West Coast misplaced six gamers to harm that day, and hasn’t gained since.
Unhealthy luck or dangerous administration?
So what occurs from right here?
All indicators publicly state that the Eagles are ready to “keep the course” with Simpson, and their chief govt Trevor Nisbett.
Each males, because the membership’s figureheads, have been within the crosshairs after the deplorable run the Eagles have endured.
However how a lot of the membership’s present woes are attributable to dangerous luck, and the way a lot dangerous administration?
The Eagles have at all times been the piranhas within the peculiar fishbowl that’s Perth sport, and the native media and talkback traces are in a frenzy with hypothesis about the way forward for every.
Inaugural Eagles coach Ron Alexander doesn’t assume sacking Simpson is the reply, after describing the membership’s weekend loss to Sydney as “all-time low”.
“With Adam Simpson, I might definitely hold him on, however I might make his foremost mission constructing the membership now,” Alexander mentioned.
“He is really received to get out and about and round and take a look at the place one of the best younger expertise is, and he is actually received to guide the cost in that.”
Shuey described Simpson as a “terrific chief”.
“He places others first, he cares about us as gamers, he cares concerning the footy membership, he cares about our followers,” Shuey mentioned.
“He is doing it powerful like all of us are, however he is so dedicated to the trigger.”
Alexander mentioned depth was a difficulty for the membership, and Simpson admitted he solely had 29 gamers to select from on the weekend.
Most golf equipment would wrestle to be aggressive whereas lacking a lot expertise.
Because the Eagles and their supporters endure this winter of discontent, ideas inevitably flip to only how lengthy this big of a membership will keep down.
In a contest designed to be equal, the Eagles are outliers.
Any membership is just ever 57 years away from being St Kilda, a premiership drought that for supporters should really feel like it’ll by no means finish.
Will the Eagles’ present woes harm the material of the membership, shifting the stability of energy in WA soccer?
Or will time and equalisation heal all wounds?
The subsequent few years promise to be an fascinating time for West Australian footy.
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