But as West Coast approaches a season-defining block of five games starting on Saturday against Collingwood at Etihad Stadium and taking in clashes with Sydney, Hawthorn and Fremantle, there's a difference with Adam Simpson's stance. He really means it.

"Reality is really important for me with this group, and I've been really consistent with the message with the players," he says. "One thing over here is that you can get carried away with yourself, and that's one thing I won't be doing.

"It's massive really," he says of the next month. "It's a true test of where we're at, whether we're legitimate or not. A lot of people are starting to talk about us in a way where we probably haven't really earned that conversation yet.

"There are probably eight teams underneath the top three [he means the Hawks, Swans and Dockers] and we're on top of those eight teams at the moment. It's our turn to go through a real tough patch now, and if we can knock off a couple, then I think we can talk a bit more about how we finish off the year."

Simpson, though, is happy enough to talk about how things have gone so far. And that is exceedingly well. Certainly beyond the expectations of the vast bulk of football pundits who had been burned by West Coast before.

His first year in charge did little to ease any scepticism. In fact, that rose to greater heights after the pre-season loss of best-and-fairest winning key defender Eric Mackenzie then, in the first game, that of another defensive tall in Mitch Brown.

But the defence has held up regardless, Jeremy McGovern filling the void wonderfully. The forward line has found a nice balance of height in Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling alongside dangerous medium-sized goalkickers in Mark LeCras, Josh Hill and Jamie Cripps. And a midfield popularly seen to begin and end with Matt Priddis now seems bursting with numbers and quality.

Luke Shuey, Andrew Gaff and Chris Masten are in career-best form. Elliott Yeo and Dom Sheed have been revelations. Scott Selwood is fit. Even first-year draftee Liam Duggan has had an impact. And towering above that group, literally, is ruckman Nic Naitanui, realising on a weekly basis the potential that has always been apparent.

Simpson, true to his no-fuss nature, laughs off any magic waving of the coaching wand. The improvement, he says, is merely the product of time, training and a greater familiarity with what he's trying to accomplish with his playing group.

"They play on instinct now rather than trying to comply," he says. "And if they can understand their role and not have to think too hard about positioning or running patterns or how we want to defend or move the ball, I think then you see the growth in individuals. We've got probably eight of those players now who don't have to think too hard about strategy and more about playing in a way they believe in.

"Everyone, really, collectively from Matt Priddis to Liam Duggan has improved in their understanding of what we're trying to do. Then you've got players who play specific roles for us who take a bit time to educate. Like Cripps. He's adapted his game around a role that really suits him and now he's made it his own, so he just plays his way now."

And as coach, Simpson knows he's still on a learning curve, too. Unlike most recent AFL coaching appointees, he hadn't spent significant time already on the coaching production line, although four years at Hawthorn under Alastair Clarkson was a more-than-handy apprenticeship.

"I probably feel like I'm on the same journey as the players. It really does feel like we're in it together," he says. "We've got a really young coaching group. Don Pyke is there, but Brady Rawlings is 33, Adrian Hickmott is 43, Justin Longmuir is 34, Daniel Pratt 32, Adam Selwood and Dean Cox are just out of playing … we're all pretty young, so when we see a little bit of success or failure we probably ride the bumps a bit more.

"I feel like because it's all new for us we seem to be stimulated a bit more easily as a coaching group, which is exciting. I don't want to talk it up like it's anything more than any other club, we're all probably going into the unknown a little bit, and I think our players know that we're in it together."

Simpson, Rawlings and Pratt were all former North Melbourne teammates. Throw in Hickmott and you have more than half a coaching panel hailing from the other side of the Nullarbor Plain. Simpson is only the second non-West Australian to coach the Eagles in their nearly three decades in the competition.

But while that was a big deal for Mick Malthouse, the first man to break that mould, Simpson says he hasn't felt any sense of being an "outsider". Malthouse's storied era and the club's first two premierships helped, naturally, but so, he says, has the more transient nature of the 21st century AFL.

"The industry isn't like that any more. Everyone has been everywhere, and as long as there's some direction and development, I don't think they care where you come from … it's probably just a little bit of a bonus if you're from home."

But for the former Roo, that is now just a few kicks from West Coast's Domain Stadium home in Subiaco.

"It is different, but only in the sense that I live probably 500 metres from the club, which would be a bit like if I was still in Victoria living in East Melbourne, which with four kids, you couldn't do unless you were in a mansion," he laughs.

"It's very convenient in lifestyle terms. The beach is 10 minutes away, the school's across the road, the community is a bit tighter. It's a really good spot for a family. There's certainly no excuse here for not getting outside."

AFL coaching remains a famously stressful experience. And after 18months of it at the highest level, Simpson too, is sprouting some extra grey hairs. Don't read too much into that, though, he says, before something of a confession.

"I know it looks like I've gone grey overnight, but I'd been masking it for a long time," he chuckles. With what? "I think it was a natural light brown 'Just For Men' six-minute job. My mates knew, but as soon as I got this job, I thought: 'I can't continue to live a lie'. I just couldn't live with myself if I was talking to the players and they were looking at me just thinking: 'Is he dyeing his hair'?"

With Simpson the senior coach, what you see is now, literally, what you get. And if West Coast get through their testing next five weeks relatively unscathed and with a few bigger-name scalps under their belt, he might feel more comfortable saying the same of his team, too.