Ticking off his first game back after 12 months on the sidelines felt good for Tom Cole, and the trusty defender was excited by the promising signs from West Coast’s first competitive hit-out against Port Adelaide.

Cole impressed with his dash and precision in the Eagles’ narrow win during his welcome return during last Friday evening’s match simulation.

The 25-year-old hadn’t faced an opposition since round 23, 2021 after going down on the eve of last year’s practice match against Fremantle with what initially seemed a minor ankle injury.

Further investigation from the innocuous training incident revealed cartilage damage which required surgery, and Cole spent the entire 2022 campaign on the sidelines before returning with flying colours against the Power.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve played an official game of footy, so it was nice to get through unscathed – and good to get a win, too – but positive signs,” Cole said.

“I pushed to play the back end of last year and then made a decision with probably five rounds to go it wasn’t worth it.

“I just pulled back a bit and continued with the straight-line running until probably three weeks into the off-season and it’s been a steady build since then.

“I’ve just been doing the same program as all the boys after that, so it was probably the right decision in the end.”

While the premiership back pocket is happy to fly under the radar externally, Cole has become a valuable cog in the Eagles’ defensive system given his ability to shut down dangerous small forwards and provide an outlet on the rebound.

He spent time marking former teammate Junior Rioli against the Power, and could be set for a tough job against star Adelaide recruit Izak Rankine in the final round one warm-up at Mineral Resources Park.

Asked how he might handle the talented former Sun, who is coming off a three-goal display against Fremantle in his first appearances as a Crow, a wry grin crept over Cole’s face as he replied: “Mate, good question”.

“Every week I’ve got small forwards that I’ve got to deal with.

“It was a lot nicer to have Junior on my team.

“It was different (playing against him). He’s a very crafty player, which I’ve obviously seen at training a lot.

“He did well, kicked a few goals. It was good to see him.”

Cole, who is training in a secondary wing role alongside recruit Jayden Hunt, welcomed the competition for spots in defence, with the likes of Alex Witherden, Josh Rotham, Harry Edwards and Brady Hough also pushing to play.

“It’s always good to have competition for spots. We’ve got Hunty this year, Brady Hough is another one coming through, so we’ll just see how that pans out over the next few weeks,” Cole said.

“But I think it’s going to be important for boys to be able to play multiple roles and have flexibility in what they can do out on the footy field.

“We’ll just have to wait and see but it’s good, healthy competition.”

Cole cited other positives including the late cameo from first-round draft pick Elijah Hewett, plus the hard-working efforts of Greg Clark and Connor West in midfield following strong summers

Dom Sheed, Oscar Allen, Elliot Yeo and Campbell Chesser also took steps forward on the comeback from their long-term injuries, and the Eagles took some confidence from seeing their effort over summer rewarded.

“I think it was good reward for the pre-season we’ve put in. Getting the win, at the back end of quarters we seemed to run them out very well, but there’s obviously a lot of things to work on,” Cole said.

“Our team defence wasn’t perfect, our ball movement wasn’t perfect, so there’s areas to improve and we’ll try do that against Adelaide this week.”