Vice-captain Josh Kennedy says his teammates are in high spirits, despite the news that defender Mitch Brown will require another knee reconstruction.
With fellow backman Eric Mackenzie also facing a long stint on the sidelines with a similar injury sustained during the NAB Challenge competition, it has been a difficult start to the 2015 campaign for West Coast.
Coming off the disappointment of a 10-point loss to the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night, Kennedy believes there is a lot to like about the Eagles this year.
“Injuries are part of football, it just happens,” Kennedy said on Monday.
“We’ve lost two key players, but the boys are still in high spirits and we’re all positive.
“We’ve all had a good pre-season and it’s exciting because we’re a pretty young list.
“We’ve got guys developing who will now probably get a chance and we’ll be able to see them a lot earlier than what we thought.”
The vacancies in the backline have already opened up opportunities, with young defender Jackson Nelson making his AFL debut against the Dogs, and Jeremy McGovern continuing his development in a defensive role.
Kennedy says McGovern’s presence in the forward line will be missed, but he was impressed by his contribution down back against the Bulldogs on Saturday.
“I’d love to have Gov up forward with us because he can take a good clunk, but he had a terrific game,” Kennedy said.
“I think it was his 14th game, which is crazy. He’s going to be a star and hopefully he can hold down the fort down back for us.
“We’ve got a good mix of backmen and I thought the backline held up pretty well this weekend.
“They were under the pump, I think the Western Bulldogs had 58 inside 50s compared to our 40-odd, so they were under the pump and I think they held strong.”
In some positive news for West Coast, Kennedy confirmed that fellow forward Jack Darling is continuing to make steady progress as he recovers from a foot stress fracture.
The 23-year-old is likely to return to the main training group in two weeks and could be available for selection by round five.
“Jack’s had a slow build-up to the year, but I think he’s around five or six weeks away which is good,” Kennedy said.
“He’s been training well and he’s back in the mix.
“He’s back running and everything’s feeling good, so looking forward to having Jack back out there.
