Star midfielders Elliot Yeo and Luke Shuey will remain sidelined for Sunday’s clash against Melbourne.
After missing the past two matches due to the concussion protocols, Yeo has now entered the AFL’s Health and Safety Protocols and will be unavailable this weekend.
Meanwhile, dynamic skipper Shuey is another week-or-two away from returning from a minor hamstring niggle which kept him out of last round’s trip to Brisbane.
“Luke’s had a really good week on the track. He’s progressing well. Another week-or-two, but we’re really looking forward to seeing Luke return,” Football Manager Gavin Bell told westcoasteagles.com.au.
“Elliot was tracking really well. Unfortunately, he’s entered the Health and Safety Protocols, so he won’t be available for football this week.”
The Eagles are hopeful Connor West will overcome a quad injury which saw him subbed out of the Lions loss, and ruckman Bailey Williams (hamstring) should be available to take on Melbourne big guns Max Gawn and Luke Jackson.
“’Westy’ was subbed out of the game with a quad injury last week against Brisbane. He’s been treated and managed throughout the course of the week. We have main training on Thursday and then he’ll be a Captain’s Run decision,” Bell said.
“Bailey trained strongly today. He’s got main training on Thursday and he’ll be a Captain’s Run decision, but all things are leaning towards Bailey being available to play this weekend.”
Key players Nic Naitanui (knee), Dom Sheed (ankle) and Willie Rioli (hamstring) are further back but there are positive signs.
Naitanui is back running after hurting his medial ligament in round four against Collingwood, and Sheed joined in skills training at Mineral Resources Park on Tuesday.
“Dom’s tracking really well. He’s making really good progress through his program,” Bell said.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing Dom return to some football after the bye.
“Nic’s making really good progress. It was great to see him out there running today as he steps forward with his progressions.
“He’s probably still got another five, six weeks or so of a build before he’s ready to return, but it’s exciting to see Nic back out on the track.
“Willie’s hamstring injury, he’ll take a little bit of time to recover from that. We’ll expect to see him shortly back out there at training and starting to get moving again.”
Fellow small forward Zac Langdon is hoping to lose his crutches this week and start on the path to playing again, and midfielder Xavier O’Neill (knee) will be assessed further when he emerges from AFL Health and Safety Protocols.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to see him – he’s been in the Health and Safety Protocols – so once Xavier is out of there we’ll have a bit more of an update,” Bell said.
“Zac is on crutches. Hopefully we’ll get him off those crutches during the course of the week, and then we’ll look to build Zac from there.”
Injury list:
Oscar Allen Foot TBC
Campbell Chesser Ankle Inactive
Tom Cole Ankle Inactive
Tom Joyce Ankle TBC
Zac Langdon Ankle 5-6 weeks
Xavier O’Neill Knee TBC
Nic Naitanui Knee 7 weeks
Willie Rioli Hamstring TBC
Dom Sheed Ankle 3-4 weeks
Luke Shuey Hamstring 1-2 weeks
Connor West Quad Test
Bailey Williams Hamstring Test
