West Coast coach Adam Simpson isn't surprised forward Liam Ryan's drink-driving charge has resurfaced on the eve of the AFL grand final.
Ryan will face court next month after the charge against him became known on Thursday as he flew with Eagles teammates to play in Saturday's grand final against Collingwood in Melbourne.
The Eagles banned Ryan for two games after the July incident when an allegedly drunk Ryan crashed his car into a tree in the Perth suburb of Armadale.
Ryan, who on Friday took part in the traditional grand-final parade with his teammates, is unfazed at the timing of the charge.
"It's no distraction to me, no, not at all," Ryan said.
"I'm really focused on my footy, I just push past that. The path I'm focused on is the grand final."
Coach Simpson counselled Ryan on Thursday after the charge became known.
"This is all old news for us," Simpson said.
"We're not surprised the day before the granny (grand final) that someone wants to talk about it, that is just what this week is about.
"It was an incident that happened in July that everyone is aware of and now there's a process in place, a court hearing in a few weeks, that is all that has happened.
"Picking up a bit of old news is not surprising."
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