He flies under the radar externally but there’s no more loved player at West Coast than Jamie Cripps, who will notch 200 games for the club against Geelong on Saturday, coach Adam Simpson says.

The embodiment of a hard-working and no-fuss footballer who eschews the limelight, Cripps has typically avoided fanfare leading into his milestone match.

But on Thursday morning the popular half-forward was boisterously acclaimed by his teammates when he added his poster to the 200-club wall at Mineral Resources Park.

“He’s probably the most loved player on our list,” Simpson said during his weekly media conference.

“He came here from the Saints (at the end of 2012) pretty much a year or two before I got here and he’s seventh or eighth on the all-time goalkicking list - a quiet achiever.

“That’s just who he is. He’s his own man and he’s very much loved and respected.

“Hopefully we can put a good effort in for him.”

With 249 goals in blue and gold, Cripps sits just behind Chris Lewis (259) in eighth position on the club's all-time goalkicking chart, and adds a different dimension to the Eagles’ small forward fleet alongside dazzling duo Liam Ryan and Willie Rioli Jnr.

Junior Rioli will return this week to re-form the trio following the passing of his father and trained well on Thursday.

“Really proud that he’s decided to come back and finish off the season – it’s been a really difficult month for him personally. He’ll play this week,” Simpson said.

Midfield star Tim Kelly and mid-season rookie draftee Jai Culley will also be back for the Cats clash following suspensions, while doubt hovers over sore duo Nic Naitanui and Andrew Gaff.

The Eagles are down to about 28 available players to pick from, but will be going to Geelong trying to win and build on the competitive and contested brand that has emerged in the second half of the season.

“I know there’s a lot of talk around and how bad our year’s been … we’ve had a bit of growth in the back half of the year with what we’ve had available and what we’re trying to do,” Simpson said.

“We haven’t won, so we get that and we deserve the criticism, but we’ve seen some improvement with some of the things we’re trying to work on.

“That won’t change this week. How we put pressure on, our tackle efficiency, contested ball. The effort around that is stuff that we can control and I think we’ve got a little bit better at it.

“It just hasn’t turned into wins.”