West Coast coach Adam Simpson has remained coy on whether or not struggling veteran Andrew Gaff will be dropped this week, but says sometimes players need a “circuit-breaker”.
Gaff has come under intense heat for a six-disposal game against Brisbane last weekend, statistically his worst for the club.
He has been named on an extended bench for the Eagles’ clash with Richmond at home, positioning the club to axe him.
Simpson says he expects to have as many as 11 reserves playing in the WAFL this weekend, which could create one of few selection headaches this season.
But he insists a call hasn’t yet been made on Gaff.
“We will work through that (Gaff’s selection) in the next 24 hours,” Simpson told 6PR.
“Obviously someone of Andrew’s stature being a little bit out of form raises questions, but he’s not alone.
“Look across the competition and it happens every week and it happens in a way that is a circuit-breaker, or it’s a rest, or a different position, or it’s go back to play VFL or to be sub.
“I see form slumps all the time and I see players work through it really well and sometimes you need to get dropped and sometimes you don’t.
“That’s the way I’ve been doing it for a long period of time and that’s the way I’ll keep doing it.”
Eagles great Glen Jakovich called for Gaff to be dropped in the immediate aftermath of their heavy loss to Brisbane at the weekend, joining growing concerns over the 31-year-old’s form.
Escaping the club’s injury crisis this season, Gaff is one of just five Eagles to play every game, and Simpson defended his work ethic.
“We’re there to help him, because no one is working harder than Gaffy at the moment, at his craft and his game.
“He came back in from the off-season as fit as I’ve seen him for a number of years and he just hasn’t put it together in the last few weeks.
“We work with him, try and help him as best we can, but his care and intent and effort haven’t changed at all and his professionalism.
“So it’s just getting that form right and understanding the public nature of where we’re at and what club we’re at and all the stuff he’s got to deal with and we have got to deal with as player and professionals.
“That’s all part of the game, but he’s not alone.”
The Eagles played a full match-simulation at training today for the first time since before their clash with Essendon in round 11, which Simpson believes helped amp up the intensity.
“I think we’ll get maybe around 10 or 11 playing at WAFL Eagles, which I don’t think we’ve been above two or three for a number of weeks, so that’s a good sign,” he said.
“Today we got to play 18 v 18 for 10 or 12 minutes and the intensity at training was different already.
“So it might not pay it back straight away but if we can hold the numbers together we can train harder and we can put more pressure on selection and we can hopefully get a better result on game-day.”