IT MIGHT have been gritty, but Adam Simpson is taking nothing away from West Coast.

Having narrowly seen off Gold Coast and St Kilda over the last fortnight – and having lost its two games prior to that – concerns had been raised over the premiers' title defence.

But an 18-point win over the Saints at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night has been hailed by Simpson as a sign things are starting to trend in the right direction for the Eagles.

EAGLES START SPREADING WINGS Full match coverage and stats

That's despite a contest plagued by errors and frequent momentum swings.

"I was really proud of our players," Simpson said.

"Winning's hard, it's bloody hard. I know we're coming off a pretty good season, but we're not going into any game thinking we'll just rock up. If we do that, we're not going to win.

WATCH Adam Simpson's full post-match media conference

"We've had some really disappointing games at stages, but the last couple of weeks we're looking positive. We're not saying we should win by more, not at all.

"We have too much respect for St Kilda, the way they're coached, the talent they have … how they execute what they want to do is very good as well."

A group of five West Coast players – Andrew Gaff, Oscar Allen, Jack Darling, Elliot Yeo and Liam Ryan – were unusually trapped in the lift of their hotel prior to the game.

The Eagles were stuck in the elevator for around half an hour, but were eventually freed at approximately 1.30pm AEST and were able to prepare as normal for Saturday night's game.

CAGED EAGLES GOING NOWHERE Five West Coast players stuck in hotel elevator

Fortunately for the West Coast coach, Simpson was unaware of the ordeal and was only told of their bizarre afternoon as he arrived at Marvel Stadium for the game.

"I didn't know until I got to the ground," Simpson said.

"A few of the guys got stuck in the lift, is that right? I know they started playing cards.

"They were in the lift for half an hour or so, but I didn't hear that until I got to the ground.

"But they're pretty resilient, our boys. They fought it out."

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