West Coast Eagles skipper Luke Shuey, star forward Jack Darling, young midfielder Luke Edwards and utility Samo Petrevski-Seton are all in the mix to return from injury against Adelaide on Saturday.
Shuey (ankle/hamstring) is preparing to play his first game since round six and lead the Eagles into battle after the club rotated the captaincy between Tom Barrass, Liam Duggan and Oscar Allen in his absence.
Edwards has progressed through the concussion protocols after being subbed out against Essendon in round 11, while Petrevski-Seton has been sidelined for the past five matches with a badly corked quad.
Darling fractured his arm in round nine against Gold Coast and is on the cusp of being a welcome addition to the forward line.
“Luke, Luke and Samo just have to get through main training this week to be available for the weekend,” Head of Health Mark Finucane told westcoasteagles.com.au.
“All have progressed through their respective rehabilitation programs.
“Jack’s been an absolute pro in looking after his arm so he’s actually pushing to play this weekend. He’s got to get through training later in the week and then he might be a chance to play against Adelaide.”
Key defender Jeremy McGovern won’t be available against the Crows despite making encouraging progress from his hamstring tendon injury.
Meanwhile, star ruck Nic Naitanui is seeing a specialist as he continues to manage Achilles soreness.
“Nic will see a specialist as we attempt to gather as much information as we can to make a decision on the next steps about the management of his Achilles,” Finucane said.
“When we have more information we’ll provide a further update.”
Reigning club champion Tom Barrass (hip) will miss the Adelaide trip after being withdrawn pre-game against Collingwood, while Shannon Hurn (hamstring) and Connor West (knee) were injured during the match.
Emerging ruck Callum Jamieson has also pulled up with hip soreness, while Elijah Hewett is in the concussion protocols.
“Unfortunately, ‘TB’ felt a grab in his hip in Captain’s Run. With the timing just prior to the (last) weekend’s game it’s going to be too tight for this weekend, so we’re looking at TB returning after the bye,” Finucane said.
“Elijah is progressing through the protocols and feeling really good today, so he’ll commence light aerobic activity later in the week and then progress through the next couple of weeks through the protocol stages.
“’Bunga’ (Hurn) came off the ground and had some awareness in his right hamstring. He’s recovered really well early in the week but he will miss this weekend.
“(Jamieson) had some hip awareness and he’s had some various scans and got some further testing to do in that regard middle of this week, but that will rule him out for this weekend.
“Unfortunately for Connor he sustained quite a high-grade medial ligament injury, which he got a surgical opinion for and it does require surgery. He’ll have that later in the week and get stuck into his rehab once he’s had that done.”
Speedy half-back Coby Burgiel (hamstring) is also set for surgery to repair a hamstring tendon, while Jordyn Baker is facing a shorter stint out with a hamstring strain.
“Coby Burgiel has had a couple of recurrences of the hamstring and scans have shown that the tendon is involved,” Finucane said.
“He’s been into see the surgeons and he’ll have that surgically repaired to prevent the scarring from repairing again, which seems to be the problem.”
Injury list:
Jordyn Baker Hamstring 2-3 weeks
Tom Barrass Hip 1-2 weeks
Coby Burgiel Hamstring TBC
Tom Cole Ankle 5-6 weeks
Jamie Cripps Ankle 5-6 weeks
Jai Culley Knee Season
Jack Darling Arm Test
Harry Edwards Groin TBC
Luke Edwards Concussion Test
Elijah Hewett Concussion 1-2 weeks
Shannon Hurn Hamstring 2-3 weeks
Callum Jamieson Hip TBC
Jamaine Jones Ankle 7-9 weeks
Jeremy McGovern Hamstring 1-2 weeks
Nic Naitanui Achilles TBC
Samo Petrevski-Seton Quad Test
Liam Ryan Hamstring 7 weeks
Luke Shuey Ankle/Hamstring Test
Connor West Knee TBC
Isiah Winder Knee 5-6 weeks
