West Coast AFL coach Adam Simpson can’t help but have a soft spot for North Melbourne.
But with the Eagles’ finals hopes on the line, the former Kangaroos’ midfielder would love nothing more than to inflict defeat on his former side in Sunday’s home clash.
Simpson won two premierships with North Melbourne and captained the side for five years during his glittering 306-game playing career.
The 38-year-old remains friends with a host of Kangaroos players and staff.
But those friendships will be temporarily put on hold this week as the Eagles attempt to get their season back on track.
West Coast face top-four hopefuls Hawthorn, Gold Coast, Fremantle and Sydney over the next five weeks, meaning their finals hopes will be in severe jeopardy if they lose to North Melbourne.
The Kangaroos (5-4) are also fighting to stay in touch with the top eight, and they will walk out onto Patersons Stadium with belief they can win after beating Fremantle there earlier this year.
Simpson, taking over as Eagles coach at the end of last year, has done his best to suppress his emotional ties with North Melbourne this week.
“I’m sure there’s some emotion down there somewhere but, at the moment, I can’t draw on that one,” Simpson said on Saturday.
“I’ve always got an eye on the Kangas and how they’re travelling.
“There’s definitely people and staff that I still maintain contact with – just not this week.”
The Eagles have been bolstered by the return of Mark LeCras from suspension, while Simpson has declared Luke Shuey a certain starter despite the midfielder pulling up sore from recent games.
West Coast are likely to tag Brent Harvey, with Simpson declaring the 36-year-old in All-Australian form.
“I’m just pumping up the old dog,” Simpson said with a laugh.
“He’s still quite often the subject of a lot of conversation at match committee. It was the same at Hawthorn and it’s the same this week.
“Out of those 360-plus games, he’s probably been tagged in 340 of them. He knows what’s coming week to week and he still finds a way.”
Kangaroos coach Brad Scott has stuck with Majak Daw despite the forward’s quiet start to the year.
Daw has kicked just five goals in four games this year, but Simpson says the 23-year-old will take some time to fulfil his potential.
“Last year, he came out and kicked six goals against the Bulldogs and everyone thought he was going to be this huge superstar. But it’s a lot harder than that,” Harvey told Perth’s radio 6PR.
“He has only been playing since he was 15 years old, so he’s coming from a long way back. We’re not in a huge rush for him.”
