West Coast spearhead Josh Kennedy is hoping to build synergy amongst the group this weekend with a number of players exiting the AFL’s Health and Safety Protocols in coming days.

After Tom Barrass and Bailey Williams were back on deck at Mineral Resources Park on Tuesday, Kennedy is expecting to see the likes of skipper Luke Shuey, Willie Rioli and Liam Duggan training with the group soon after entering the Protocols last week and is hopeful a number of these players will put their hand up for selection against Collingwood on Saturday.

Going 0-3 to start the season – after making 27 changes in the last two rounds alone – Kennedy is hopeful the return of these key personnel will bring some continuity to the group as they look to claim their first four premiership points.

“For us continuity has been a big thing over this last bit of pre-season and the last couple of weeks,” Kennedy told 6PR.

“But we’ve still got guys who have been regularly training and regularly playing so it’s no excuse.

“A lot of us have played a lot of footy together so I’m sure over the next month or two we’ll get that continuity back and that synergy and hopefully we can start kicking up a bit more of a score.

“You keep chipping away at the process and keep chipping away at the synergy between the group and the players and what you believe in.

“Those wins will start to come and you never know where you’re positioned by mid-year, or even half-way through that back end of the year.

“So we’ll keep doing what we’re doing and keep adjusting, and keep going with the flow and hopefully that continuity will start to come and those wins will start to happen.

“I think we get about five guys probably back this week, which is good, I think a few went down earlier in the week so they’ll be able to have a couple of sessions before we obviously fly out to Melbourne this week.”

After a disappointing 55-point loss to Fremantle in the RAC Derby on Sunday, West Coast remain united with plenty of things to like, particularly from the younger contingent of players.

The Eagles also expect to see returning midfielders Elliot Yeo (calf) and Tim Kelly (hamstring) in coming weeks, which will give the side a boost.

Yeo said while he’s still a few matches away, the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ is nearing.

“The vibe within the four walls is pretty good at the moment, considering obviously the performance over the past couple of weeks,” Yeo told 96FM.

“As much as it sucks and we can’t have everyone out on the park, we’ve just kind of accepted it and got on with it, otherwise you dwell on it too much.

“It’s really good to try and get as much experience into the younger kids quick as possible, so that’ll help us down the line and in a couple of years’ time.

“So the more games we can get into more players, the better off we’ll be in the future.

“I guess through adversity sometimes things come out better for us. We’re facing our challenges at the moment, but we’re up for the fight and up for the challenge.

“Next couple of weeks will be when you’ll probably be starting to see me putting the hand up and trying to get in and play.

“So, we’ll wait and see, there’s things as I’ve said in previous weeks, I have to tick off, but it’s looking promising.

“Starting to see a little bit of light in the end of the tunnel now.”