WEST Coast coach Adam Simpson concedes he doesn't know if his players have suffered mental scarring against Hawthorn after the Hawks juggernaut delivered the Eagles a "dose of reality" with another walloping at their MCG fortress on Sunday.
The Grand Final rematch was reminiscent of last year's embarrassing display in the season-decider, with the Eagles again hunted by the Hawks and left shellshocked by the intensity of the contest.
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"It's hard to tell (if there's mental scarring). Looking at it now, I can't argue it," Simpson said post-match.
"I've been arguing that a little bit … and we beat them in the first (qualifying) final. It just shows the class that they've got."
West Coast has now lost four of five clashes against the Hawks during Simpson's tenure, with the only win coming in a stunning qualifying final at Domain Stadium last season.
The Hawks dominated from the opening bounce on Sunday, notching up 165 more disposals and doubling the Eagles' inside 50 count (68-34) for the match.
WATCH: Adam Simpson's full post-match media conference
For Simpson, the 46-point drubbing – the same margin as last year's Grand Final – had the same feeling that his troops couldn't match the hunger of Hawthorn, which bounced back from a round-one loss to Geelong in typically assertive fashion.
"So much of it's got to do with mindset and that's what we've got to work on. We need to be playing at our best mentally to compete against any team," Simpson said.
"We didn't (see that performance coming). We thought we prepared well but we had a lot of similar outcomes as last year, so we're really disappointed.
"They outplayed us in every area of the game. We just didn't put ourselves in any position to compete – inside, outside or (with our) ball use.
"I thought our defenders actually did OK considering the supply … they probably should've won by more."
Hawks veterans Josh Gibson – who racked up an equal-club record 44 disposals across half-back – and Sam Mitchell (37) led a fierce response to the round one loss to the Cats.
Mitchell continues to haunt the Eagles, he's averaging more than 35 touches in the past four meetings, while Gibson did as he pleased in a commanding performance.
Simpson said trying to shut down Gibson via a direct opponent would only have caused bigger headaches in the midfield.
"Mitchell and Gibson and these guys are a product of tough-hard footy, and the more numbers we sent to help win that, the more open space they had," he said.
"It's catch-22 with what you do. The good teams are going to make you pay – and they did."
Simpson said Jack Darling bouncing back from last year's horror Grand Final by booting three goals was a "small positive", but recruit Lewis Jetta "was poor, like some other players".
The Eagles, who could regain Chris Masten next week, now have to lick their wounds with only a six-day break until a crunch Western Derby against Fremantle on Saturday night.
"Round three's big, a lot of teams are on one (win) and one (loss)," Simpson said.
"Most teams probably had a good performance and a not-so-good performance and we're right in the middle of that. So it's game-on next week."
