Adam Simpson played his first game of football for North Melbourne in Round 18, 1995 and coached his last game at West Coast Eagles in Round 17,2024.
Sandwiched in the middle of his career as a player and coach was a stint as assistant coach at Hawthorn during the time they won the premiership.
His trophy cabinet includes being captain of North Melbourne, a Best and Fairest, two premierships as a player and a premiership as a coach.
It also includes the enviable record of coaching a team that – for the first eight years of his time at the helm – never finished in the bottom half of the ladder.
So what happened to cause the club to slump eight positions down the ladder to second last in 2022 and languish there for the next three years?
Was it a post-Covid reaction or perhaps injuries, the loss of Josh Kennedy, Shannon Hurn, Nic Naitanui and Luke Shuey?
No doubt all these contributed, but I believe it was a lack of fire in the belly by all involved at the Eagles that led to the sad demise of a well-respected coach who at the time of his retirement was the 18th most senior player/coach of all time. He has since been overtaken by Chris Scott of Brisbane/Geelong.
As a result, for the 2025 season Andrew McQualter has been handed his second shipwreck, but as I hope to show below-all is not as bad as it seems.
Andrew McQualter. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Top 100 Players Lost: 3.
Although the three Top 100 game players who are no longer on the list include Jack Darling (#2) and Andrew Gaff (#4), Darling was not needed for next year with two rising goal scorers (Oscar Allen and Jake Waterman) on the list and Gaff played only five games during the season.
Tom Barrass, however, at 28 years of age will be harder to replace.
Top 100 Game Players recruited from other clubs: 2.
Richmond provided two replacements to the Eagles forward line: Jack Graham (#95) and Liam Baker (eq#99) who had just made it into the Tigers’ elite game players in the last round.
Matthew Owies had yet to make the Top 100 at Carlton.
Top 100 Game Players Currently on List: 13.
With the departure of Darling and Gaff, it means that Jamie Cripps (#17) is now the only Top 20 player remaining, but he is well supported by the other dozen players scattered throughout the list.
Potential New Top 100 Game Players in 2025: 1.
Brady Hough is the only player likely to gain Top 100 game status.
Players No Longer Eligible for Top 100 Status: 1.
How ironic is it that Jarrad Schofield who took over as coach of the Eagles for the last seven rounds of the 2024 season is also the one player who lost his Top 100 game player status in 2024.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Top 100 Goal Kickers Lost: 2.
Jack Darling (#2) and Andrew Gaff (eq#38) were prominent goal-kickers as well.
Top 100 Goal Kickers recruited from Other Clubs: 0.
None of the three trades had made it into the Top 100 at their original club.
Top 100 Goal Kickers Currently on the List: 9.
Again, Jamie Cripps (#6) has become the current leader, but he is well supported by Oscar Allen (#17).
Liam Ryan (#19) and Jake Waterman (#20) are all-time Top 20 goal scorers and the other five up-and-comers are placed lower down the list.
Potential New Top 100 Goal Scorers in 2025: 2.
Both Bailey and Jack Williams could kick enough goals in 2025 to make the list.
Goal Scorers no longer eligible for Top 100 status: 0.
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