Premiership captain Shannon Hurn and four-time All-Australian Jeremy McGovern are on track to boost the West Coast Eagles chances of upsetting the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Hurn, who has missed the last three matches with a calf strain, has trained strongly in the last week and should travel to the City of Churches if he maintains fitness at the club’s main session tomorrow.
McGovern was subbed out of last week’s game against the Western Bulldogs after suffering back pain in the second quarter. He has made strong steps forward and further improvement will see him make the trip to play the Crows.
“Shannon has had a good block of training after his minor calf strain; he’s just got to get through training to be available,” Head of Health and Fitness Mark Finucane appraised.
“Jeremy, in the game, had some back spasms and the fortunate thing is that there is nothing too serious on the scans, so we need the spams to settle, to show some function so he can make the trip to Adelaide.”
Young defender Luke Foley has progressed through every stage of the AFL Concussion Protocols and will be available for selection this week.
In further good news small forward Jack Petruccelle and ruckman Luke Strnadica have made rapid progression and they are likely to be available to play for the WAFL Eagles as they make their way back from hamstring and calf injuries respectively.
Lively forwards Willie Rioli and Liam Ryan continue to make good progress from hamstring strains with both listed as being a week or two away from resuming.
“Luke has fully recovered from his concussion in terms of symptoms,” Finucane said.
“It took a little bit longer initially, but he has turned the corner and just needs to get through training to be available.
“'Petch' could follow a similar program to Elliot Yeo and build his minutes through the WAFL while Luke had a tight calf in his last WAFL game, but it has settled well.
“Liam and Willie have progressed well from their hamstring injuries, we just need to get a base of work into them so they’re ready to go when they do return.”
And star ruckman Nic Naitanui is also starting to build his training loads, with Finucane suggesting he is 4-6 weeks away from a return to action.
“Nic has been really comfortable in his straight line running and he is now working through his kicking, change of direction and then into light skills," he said.
On a day when the news was almost completely positive young midfielder midfielder Xavier O’Neill has taken steps forward in his return to action, listed as four weeks from a resumption.
Injury list:
Oscar Allen Foot Inactive
Campbell Chesser Foot Inactive
Tom Cole Ankle Inactive
Luke Edwards Groin Inactive
Luke Foley Concussion Test
Shannon Hurn Calf Test
Tom Joyce Ankle 4-5 Weeks
Zac Langdon Ankle TBC
Jeremy McGovern Back Test
Xavier O’Neill Knee 4 Weeks
Nic Naitanui Knee 4-6 Weeks
Jack Petruccelle Hamstring Test
Willie Rioli Hamstring 1-2 Weeks
Liam Ryan Hamstring 1-2 Weeks
Luke Strnadica Calf 1-2 Weeks
