Superstar ruck Nic Naitanui says he is looking forward to watching which West Coast youngsters step up while a number of experienced Eagles work their way back to full fitness.
The Eagles lost Elliot Yeo (calf), Dom Sheed (ankle) and Campbell Chesser (ankle) early in last Friday’s scratch match against Fremantle, adding to a list of quality players currently on the sidelines.
But opportunity knocks for a number of less experienced Eagles to stamp their credentials, and several will play important roles in Sunday’s AAMI Community Series clash against the Dockers.
“I think our young guys have been waiting a fair while now, we’ve played a lot of older players for a long time now and some of the youth have been unable to play because of that, or had limited game time,” Naitanui said.
“The current reality is that we do have a lot of injuries – it’s something that I’ve never seen throughout my career here at the club, and the calibre of people who are out too.
“But that’s the nature of football clubs, you have events that affect you throughout the year and we’ve had things like COVID, we’ve had to travel, and having injuries is just another part that happens with it as well.
“We’ve faced this before – maybe not to this extent – but the next soldier steps up, now we’re blooding a lot more youth and they will get a few more games, especially the early parts of the year.
“Fingers crossed we get a lot of those boys back over the course of the year.”
The likes of Jake Waterman, Jamaine Jones, Connor West, Jack Petruccelle, Harry Edwards and Luke Foley are set for opportunity early this year, while ruck-forward Bailey Williams has impressed Naitanui this summer.
“Bailey has had a really good pre-season and I’m really excited to see him come about now. He’s stepped into that role and really embraced it, and ‘Jamo’s’ (Callum Jamieson) another one, he’s come off injury and he’s working his way back as well,” he said.
“We’ve got Luke Strnadica who (has) potential to join us (as a Pre-season Supplemental Selection Period rookie) as well.
“He’s another ruckman that’s from East Fremantle ranks and spent some time at the Dockers. We’ve got a lot of ruck stocks that can help out, but I think we’re going to be fine in terms of our tall department with Oscar (Allen) being out for a period of time.”
While disappointed by the performance against Fremantle last Friday night, Naitanui wasn’t hitting the panic button after one practice match.
“I think it’s understandable (to be criticised) when you have a massive loss like that in a pre-season game, albeit there’s no points up for grabs, people are entitled to have their opinion,” Naitanui said.
“It’s what makes football a beautiful thing.
“Write us off if you please but I know internally we’re all excited, we’re all ready to go and we’re excited to prove some of those people wrong.
“It happens every year. People tip teams to be top four, bottom four, to win a Grand Final and that’s all part of the fun of football.
“I know we’re working pretty hard on things and yeah it wasn’t the best result last Friday but it’s all learning.
“We get another chance this Sunday and then the following week before round one kicks off.”
