GLEN QUARTERMAIN: Adam Simpson left West Coast Eagles too late, but what a ride it has been

It came 12 months too late, but in the end, it was not only the right decision. It was the only decision.

Adam Simpson’s tenure as West Coast coach is coming to an end after almost 11 seasons at the helm.

Injuries play a big part, but eight wins from the past 64 games is not good enough for any AFL club, let alone one of the powerhouses of the competition.

They are 3-13 with a lowly percentage of 69.1 after round 17 with a pretty good injury list.

Something had to give.

Last year it was chief executive Trevor Nisbett. It should have been Simpson as well.

Only the West Coast board can tell us why it didn’t happen.

They will argue it would have been fiscally imprudent to pay out the $1.6 million the coach was owed for the last two years of Simpson’s contract, as well as a significant luxury tax for exceeding the soft cap.

But why were they in that situation in the first place? Perhaps the next step is for the board to reveal why Simpson’s contract was extended in the first place to the end of 2025, without informing members and fans until long after the deal was done.

Ten years is about as long as an AFL coach’s tenure should last. Period.

That is not singling out Simpson. Alastair Clarkson was at Hawthorn for three years too long. Kevin Sheedy coached Essendon for 27 years.

Simpson has been offered the chance by CEO Don Pyke to coach the Eagles one last time, against Brisbane at Optus Stadium on Sunday. The departing coach’s body language on Tuesday suggested he won’t.

“We haven’t made that call yet if I was going to coach this week Pykey, but thanks mate,” Simpson said, adding he would “get today” before making a decision.

If he does he will equal Mick Malthouse for Eagles games coached, 243.

Either way, he should be given an opportunity to say farewell.

“Obviously, a decision has been made and it’s mutual. I feel like the time is right. I have been reasonably stoic over the last few years over the direction of the club and it’s a slow burn and it’s going to take a bit of time and my position hasn’t changed,” Simpson said.

“It was a fantastic journey, one I’m very proud of.

“It has been an ugly final chapter to a coaching stint that should be for the large part celebrated.”

Simpson will always be an AFL premiership coach.

And as well as the 2018 triumph, it should be remembered he led the Eagles to a grand final loss, in 2015, in only his second year in charge, when he set up the Eagles web, a mobile defensive structure that countered a lack of tall defensive options.

Flags are hard to win from Perth. In 2018, he did it without three of his key players — ruckman Nic Naintanui, defender Brad Sheppard and winger Andrew Gaff.

Only two others have scaled the AFL mountaintop with the Eagles — Mick Malthouse in 1992 and ’94 and John Worsfold in 2006.

All three are in good company.