Players’ text bombshell rocks West Coast

West Coast coach Adam Simpson says he’ll talk to his players but won’t go on a “witch hunt” despite a report revealing players have sent text messages declaring they want a new man in charge at the embattled Eagles.

Simpson faced the media on Friday for his weekly briefing hours after a local newspaper detailed text messages from three players to people outside the club declaring they wanted Simpson moved on.

The revelations came on the back of West Coast’s shocking 61-point home loss to Hawthorn last weekend, compounding the issues for a team that has lost six games by more than 50 points in 2024 and won just five games in the past two seasons.

Simpson, who took the Eagles to the 2018 premiership, is contracted until the end of 2025 and the club could face a payout of up to $6m if he was to be sacked.

But the coach is defiant, adamant he still has the support of the player group, and a “disgruntled” minority is nothing new at a club that isn’t winning.

“It’s not ideal but it’s not uncommon either,” Simpson said.

“It happened when I was under Denis (Pagan), when I was working with Clarko (Alastair Clarkson) – it happens all the time.

“I won’t be checking everyone’s phones, put it that way.

“We’ve got 15-20 players who don’t get a game every week, we’ve got probably 10 players who will be off the list at the end of the year.

“So there’s always people who are disgruntled. It’s just part of the job. We can’t apologise for trying to get better, but I think I’ve still got the players (backing).”

Simpson said he’d talk to all players to “take the sting out of” the story when they assembled at the airport on Friday afternoon before the team few to Melbourne for Sunday’s clash with the Demons at the MCG.

“I’ll talk to the boys because I’m not on a witch hunt,” Simpson said.

“It’s not that at all. It’s a little bit grubby from the paper’s point of view, but that’s fine. You guys are doing your job and I’ll just do mine.

“You’re overplaying it a little bit just because you’ve seen three players have sent text messages to each other.

“It’s our lives, we deal with it every day. I’ll just talk to the players today and we’ll try to unite and be better on the weekend.”

Simpson said he was “committed to the build” and had no intention of walking away from the club.