The West Coast Eagles are throwing their support behind youngster Jai Culley following confirmation he ruptured the ACL in his right knee against Richmond.
Culley is set to undergo surgery next week and will then begin his lengthy rehabilitation period as he aims to return early next season.
“He saw the surgeon yesterday and at this stage will have surgery early next week as long as the swelling comes down, so we’re getting around Jai at the moment,” Head of Health Mark Finucane told westcoasteagles.com.au.
While Culley prepares for the next phase, the Eagles are hopeful several of his youthful cohort will filter back into the AFL and WAFL Eagles teams in coming weeks.
Hard-running wingman Campbell Chesser is available after travelling to the MCG as the emergency last round.
Key defender Harry Edwards (wrist) and versatile Brady Hough (hamstring) are listed as tests for the clash against Gold Coast on Friday night.
“Campbell travelled on the weekend as the emergency and did a session immediately post-game so he’s available for this weekend,” Finucane said.
“Harry is a test this week. He has a final scan on his wrist today and has to be comfortable to get through training tonight and then will be available if he passes those.
“Brady has done a sign-off session on the weekend and hit top speed and volumes and everything that we wanted to see from him.
“He’s just got to get through training this week to be available for the weekend.”
Half-forward Samo Petrevski-Seton has completed his one-match suspension and is hopeful of putting his hand up following a nasty corked quad, however athletic tall Rhett Bazzo (concussion) will not play this weekend.
“Rhett is progressing through the protocols. He will be unavailable this week with the timeframes from when he started progressing through them and we’re hoping he’ll be available for round 10,” Finucane said.
“Samo is just progressing through each of the phases after quite a severe quad contusion, or cork, and we’ll just take it step at a time.”
There is promising news for exciting key forward prospect Jack Williams, who is nearly ready to resume contact training after suffering a ruptured spleen from an innocuous training incident in February.
Williams and zippy small forward Noah Long (hamstring) are aiming to be available next weekend, with Coby Burgiel (hamstring) and Elijah Hewett (ankle) also nearing comebacks.
“Jack has one more week out of contact and then will hopefully be available next week,” Finucane said.
“Coby has done a power of work. He’s still got some late-stage game-like running sessions to sign off this weekend and then he’s not too far away from returning to play.
“Elijah has progressed through his straight-line running and light skills and change of direction. He’ll do some more aggressive football conditioning work later in the week - jumping, landing, tackling and the like - and build from there.
“Noah is progressing really well. Similar to Coby Burgiel he has another session or two of bigger volumes and top-end speed, so we’re hoping to see him in a week or so.”
A little further back are stars Elliot Yeo and Luke Shuey, while Jeremy McGovern, Nic Naitanui and Liam Ryan are making progress and Jamie Cripps will see his surgeon for a review before moving onto the next phase of his rehab.
“Nic has started his on-ground sessions but he continues to build his strength-base in the gym and has a slow re-introduction to his running,” Finucane said.
“Liam is not that far away from recommencing running. He has a review with his surgeon next week and if he gets the green light from there we’ll see Liam back running, but he’s doing a power of work in the gym and with his cardio conditioning.”
Meanwhile, Naitanui Academy product Jordyn Baker has been cleared by scans after landing awkwardly on his back while playing for the WAFL Eagles and is aiming to be available against Peel this Saturday.
Injury list:
Jordyn Baker Back Test
Rhett Bazzo Concussion 1-2 weeks
Coby Burgiel Hamstring 2 weeks
Tom Cole Ankle 8-9 weeks
Jamie Cripps Ankle 11-13 weeks
Jai Culley Knee Season
Harry Edwards Wrist Test
Elijah Hewett Ankle 2 weeks
Brady Hough Hamstring Test
Noah Long Hamstring 1-2 weeks
Jeremy McGovern Hamstring 6-7 weeks
Nic Naitanui Achilles 6-7 weeks
Samo Petrevski-Seton Quad TBC
Liam Ryan Hamstring 9-11 weeks
Luke Shuey Ankle/Hamstring 4 weeks
Jack Williams Spleen 1-2 weeks
Isiah Winder Knee TBC
Elliot Yeo Groin 2-3 weeks
