West Coast need a clear, cohesive plan to return to the top | CPT PPP Coverage

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“Nobody panics when things go ‘according to plan’ – even if the plan is horrifying,” says Heath Ledger’s Joker in Christopher Nolan’s 2007 masterpiece The Dark Knight.

When sports teams decide to tank, (most) fans do not lose their marbles because even though it makes for a miserable season, they see the logic behind accumulating top-end draft picks and rebuilding that way – any promising performances are an added bonus.

It is why 17th-placed North Melbourne fans right now are much happier than West Coast fans – the Kangaroos are a team built to lose now, but be better in the future, and fans are ok with this – because it is all ‘part of the plan’.

So, what is West Coast’s plan?

They say it’s always darkest before the dawn, that the only way is up from rock bottom – but the stark reality is, the Eagles just keep finding ways to redefine their new low.

It’s less no-man’s land, and more a void the Eagles find themselves in – right now, they are akin to Homer Simpson in the tar pit (“I’m pretty sure I can struggle my way out; first I’ll just reach in and pull my legs out; now, I’ll pull my arms out with my face”).

The Eagles’ previous plan was to double down on their veterans who helped them win the 2018 flag, but when the cliff came, they suddenly found themselves in a deficit of AFL-ready youngsters who could take over.

On-field, nothing they are doing is working and it feels like this year’s plan was to sort of do what they did last year, just with a couple more unseasoned young players thrown into the mix.

On Sunday, they backed coach Adam Simpson in despite a horrific 171-point defeat to Sydney – the fourth-biggest defeat in AFL/VFL history, the worst loss in the club’s history and their 12th consecutive loss by more than 40 points.

The state of affairs is so torrid at West Coast, that it is impossible to say whether a new coach would actually change anything – for all of the “Sack Simmo” rhetoric, the current Eagles team is as much a list management and injury debacle than anything.

If the decision makers have concluded the coach is not the problem, then the issue evidently lies elsewhere.

They bought in a new strength and conditioning head in the off-season, only for their veterans to once again fall to soft-tissue issues, although a number of injuries can be placed in the unlucky and unfortunate basket.

The playing list is somehow simultaneously top-heavy with Premiership heroes and also the worst in the league, with few green shoots – it is going to take years of strong drafts to pull the club out of this mire, because of the lack of quality players about to enter their prime.

Whatever the new plan is, the club’s hierarchy must be clear and concise in their plotting, planning and execution – both internally and externally.

After two consecutive annus horribilis, the off-field brass must show leadership, not hide in the shadows, because supporters deserve to know what the way forward is.

In the face of historic loss after historic loss, the club needs its own fans more than ever, and right now they must be honest with them – as any generic self-help book will tell you, open communication is the key to a healthy relationship.

The fans are going to be on this ride with West Coast for better and worse and while the Eagles do not need to let them take the wheel, they should at least get a spot in the passenger seat.