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BITTERLY disappointed West Coast coach Adam Simpson believes the pain of his side's Grand Final humbling will stir a strong sense of purpose amongst his players as they seek redemption in 2016.

Speaking at the Eagles' post-game function in Melbourne, the second-year coach admitted he was hurting and said he could see the pain of an inglorious loss in the season-decider in his players' eyes.

But Simpson hoped the shattering 46-point defeat would motivate the Eagles to emulate Hawthorn in the search for a fourth premiership and sustained success.

"For what it's worth, I think our players now realise the purpose of playing AFL and why we exist and who we represent," Simpson said as he addressed a crowd of hundreds at Melbourne's Convention and Exhibition Centre.

"The support in Melbourne was massive and the people who travelled from all over the country to get here and watch us was just outstanding.

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"I think sometimes you go through these things and you realise why you play the game. You can lose focus on that in such a big competition and sometimes you are starved of success and you don't realise what your purpose is.

"We know what our purpose is – and that's to win a fourth premiership for this football club.

"We didn't get it today and we're doing everything in our power to achieve that. We want long-term, sustained success and we think we're building and this experience is really hurting our players and it's really hurting me.

"We'll be hurting over the break. I've seen it in the players' eyes. I've been there before as a player. The best thing we can do is respond over the pre-season and bounce back next year."

Simpson, who led the Eagles to ninth spot in his first season in the hot seat, said the worst positions to finish were just outside the finals and as the loser on Grand Final day.

But he paid tribute to a "bloody good side in Hawthorn" – his former employers.

West Coast chairman Alan Cransberg also credited the Hawks but expressed his pride in the Eagles after recovering from the loss of key defenders Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown to serious knee injuries early in the campaign to reach the club's sixth Grand Final.

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"If you think back to the start of the year, the number of people who tipped us not to end up in the eight was quite high. And it has been a magnificent season," Cransberg said.

"I want this to be a positive night, we are building and we will continue to build until we achieve what we set out to achieve.

"Hawthorn have been the benchmark for the last five years and it didn't happen to them overnight either.

"They set lofty standards, they worked hard, they worked smart and they developed the right people to take them to where they wanted to go."

The Eagles will fly back to Perth on Sunday morning and the players will be presented on stage at Domain Stadium from 12.30pm (WST).