West Coast Eagles head of communications revealed as the source behind Adam Simpson holiday rumour

West Coast’s head of communications and the long-time right-hand man to chief executive Trevor Nisbett told media that coach Adam Simpson would be encouraged to take a long break at the end of the season. The West Australian can reveal Gary Stocks, who has been in the position since it was created in 2000, sent a text message statement to the Herald Sun on Wednesday saying in part: “When our season ends he will be encouraged to take an extended break to refresh.” But the club tried to backtrack shortly after, releasing another club statement saying it wasn’t true. The latest shambolic episode at the Eagles comes amid a board split over whether Simpson, left, should be axed or Nisbett - managed out. And it comes with the team having won just three of the past 36 matches, a number of them by embarrassing margins. Sources say there is a divide among the West Coast board, with one camp pushing for Nisbett’s tenure to come to an end in response to horrific the bleak on-field situation, while another camp wants Simpson out. Stocks’ text to the Melbourne newspaper further read: “Adam will coach out the remainder of the season. He is up for the challenge and keen to improve and develop our players and game plan.” But within hours the Eagles took to their official Twitter and Facebook accounts to rubbish the extended break reports, claiming they were “inaccurate” and that “no such discussion has taken place.” Stocks, inset right, was contacted for comment. It left Simpson in a painfully awkward situation, as evidenced by his attempts to brush off the matter, and the board split, at his press conference yesterday. Quizzed about the latest PR disaster, Simpson attacked the legitimacy of the reports and suggested media had unfairly attributed comments to a club spokesperson that had come from elsewhere. “You guys can grab something from someone who’s connected to someone and make it a spokesperson. I don’t see a name there,” Simpson said. It is not known whether Simpson was aware yesterday the statement had been provided by Stocks, who was named a life member of West Coast last year in recognition of more than two decades of service. During the press conference on Friday, Simpson also said he felt -supported by the club’s board and Nisbett and was not aware of a split. “I really don’t get involved with that stuff. And you guys report what you need to but I’m the coach until I’m not the coach,” Simpson said. “So I always feel supported from Trevor and the board. “They’ve been really good to me and I really want to repay them with good leadership. “At the moment until you’re not the coach, I’ve got the full support of the board from what I’ve been told. So we’ll go from there.” Simpson, 47, was adamant he still had the energy to lead the Eagles. “I look a bit older than when I first got here, but I signed up for this. I knew this was coming,” he said. “We knew we were going to have to restock our list and there’s going to be some hard times. “We had a bad week and it’s been a bad few weeks with our availability and our form, but it doesn’t change my attitude or demeanour or stress levels. “Sometimes dealing with success is harder than dealing with failure. This is part of my career I’ve got to deal with and I’m in it and I’m up for it.” The Eagles are looking to rebound from one of the worst losses in their history, a 116-point belting from the previously last-placed Hawthorn in Launceston which has led to critics coming for the coach and the club’s hierarchy. Simpson said he had hoped to see a difference in the players which would lead to a positive response. “From day one to on the weekend, it’s really hard to judge how they’re feeling,” Simpson said. “We really hope we get a response this week, just with effort. We didn’t run last week either, we folded back a lot so we want to bring a bit more pressure to this game. “And when we’re at our best, despite the wins, the best quarters we’ve played this year, we’ve brought pressure so that that’s got to be our goal.” West Coast will be boosted by the returns of -premiership stars Elliot Yeo, Tom Barrass and Shannon Hurn, as well as young midfielder Luke Edwards, against Essendon tonight. Simpson indicated Yeo would play predominantly in defence and Barrass could be switched forward to help out -interim captain Oscar Allen and Jake Waterman. Despite coming back from injuries, Simpson said none of them were expected to be on managed minutes. “We probably can’t afford to do that at the moment,” he said. “You saw last week some of the vulnerabilities we had with poor defence up the field, left us really open down back so they’ll be good to come back. “Confidence, it’s low. Yeah, no doubt after last week, so we’ve got to stay resilient. “Like we really do. We need to find a way to compete better.”