Adam Simpson ‘was in tears' after infamous 2022 nightclub incident involving Patrick Naish and six others

7NEWS

4 days ago

Former West Coast coach Adam Simpson was brought to tears in the aftermath of the club's infamous COVID nightclub incident in 2022.
Seven Eagles players were fined $5000 after being spotted at a Perth nightclub during the late stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, at which point AFL players were living under strict parameters to ensure the competition could run with limited disruption during what was an unprecedented time.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Pat Naish explains story behind infamous nightclub incident.
Pat Naish, Hugh Dixon, Jackson Nelson, Josh Rotham, Jake Waterman, Rhett Bazzo and Campbell Chesser were all sanctioned by the club.
At the time, Simpson called it an 'error in judgement'.
'Decisions have been made, sanctions have been laid and now we need to get on with it,' Simpson told 7NEWS Perth after it happened.
'They're very remorseful, obviously it's an error in judgement and we'll move on.
'With the current environment and where we're at, it's just really poor judgement from those boys.
'They've got a bit of trust to earn back from the playing group and the club.'
Speaking to 7NEWS.com.au's new podcast What Could've Been about the incident for the first time, Naish — who moved to West Coast after being delisted by Richmond in 2021 — says he had even let then-Eagles captain Luke Shuey know about the night out in advance.
'It was (Richmond defender) Nathan Broad's engagement party, because he's from WA and so is his partner,' Naish said.
'I got invited to that, and we played Richmond that Friday night, and I reckon it was on a Saturday (the engagement).
'What I thought is that I was just catching up with a couple of Richmond mates for dinner and a couple of beers, and I ended up leaving there at like 10.30pm. It was a harmless night.
'But yeah, got out, left there early, went home, and thought nothing of it.
'And I ran it by 'Boots' (Shuey) before. I was like, 'Mate, don't know if this is all good but I've got a couple of the Richmond boys over, they're over for Broady's, and I've been invited to his engagement party'.'
Simpson — who incidentally contracted COVID days later, along with several others at the club — was distraught when he spoke to Naish the next Monday.
'The photo that got leaked was a photo that Hip-E Club actually posted on their Instagram, and it was Jackson Nelson with Liam Baker, Josh Rotham and a couple other boys, and that's how the club found out,' Naish said.
'From there, in WA, it was literally like the biggest news ever.
'I remember we played Brisbane the next week and I was good mates with Cam Rayner, and Cam goes, 'Why are you blokes in trouble?' and I was like, 'Mate, I actually have no idea'.
'I remember we had to go in on the Monday and I walked into Simmo's office, and Simmo was in tears — in tears.
'Because he goes, 'Mate, we found you, we gave you a second life and you've repaid us like this'.
'I reckon I had four beers, like I wasn't even (doing anything bad).'
A club statement at the time said the players had disobeyed 'guidelines', but didn't specify that any rules were broken.
Naish, who had been given a lifeline by the Eagles earlier that year as a pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) addition to the list, was delisted at season's end.
'Did it ruin my career? I don't know,' the 26-year-old said.
'I don't think about it much, to be completely honest.
'I enjoyed the first half of the year (in the AFL side) and then enjoyed playing WAFL.
'I went out of my comfort zone moving to WA for a year and lived in Wembley which is a good part of the world.
'But I wouldn't change it to be honest; it was unreal, I met some lifelong friends there, and had some fun along the way.'
Naish, the son of former Tigers great Chris Naish was originally drafted as a father-son selection to the Tigers in 2017.
He played nine games at Tigerland before being delisted at the end of 2021. He played another 11 games at West Coast in 2022.