A quartet of Eagles could be available to return when West Coast’s match committee sits down to select the round one team to face Port Adelaide next week.
Co-captain and star goalkicker Oscar Allen will be available to face the Power and young gun Reuben Ginbey (concussion) is also expected back.
Meanwhile, exciting recruit Tyler Brockman (knee) and impressive draftee Clay Hall (ankle) are pushing to make their first official appearances in blue and gold.
“Oscar’s had a really good pre-season. He had a bit of knee soreness last week, so we took the opportunity to rest him and we expect him to train next week and be ready for round one,” High Performance Manager Mathew Inness told westcoasteagles.com.au.
“Reuben is progressing well through his concussion protocols. He has got a few boxes to tick this week but, again, we expect him to be ready for round one.
“Tyler Brockman’s had a bit of a knee issue over the last couple of weeks. He trained fully today. He’s got a couple of boxes to tick later this week and early next week just to be ready to play round one.
“Clay had an ankle issue in our intraclub. It’s progressing really well. He’s back running. We expect him to join in training this week and early next week and be available for selection in probably a week or two.”
Following respective groin and back issues, defender Josh Rotham and onballer Zane Trew are back in full training and ready to play, albeit most likely to resume in a WAFL scratch match next weekend.
“Roth missed a couple of our pre-season games just with some groin soreness, but he’s back in some full training this week, he’ll do some match sim this week and again we expect him to play some (WAFL) minutes in AFL round one,” Inness said.
“Zane had a bit of a back issue. We expect him to play some minutes in the WAFL in (the week of) AFL round one.”
There is more good news on the horizon, with Harry Edwards progressing following finger surgery, while Liam Ryan (hamstring) and Jai Culley (knee) could be back in around a month.
“Liam had hamstring surgery in mid-January. He’s progressing really well, he’s starting to hit some high speeds and joining in with some training. we expect him to be back in full training in the next couple of weeks,” Inness said.
“In our intraclub, Harry broke his finger and had an operation on that. He’s been restricted with no ball work for a period of time. He’s a week or two away from being able to touch footballs, and once he can touch footballs we expect him to be available in another two-to-three weeks.”
Culley suffered a ruptured ACL in round eight last season against Richmond and is making encouraging progress.
“Jai is going really well with his ACL injury he suffered last year. He’s in full training. He’s probably four-to-six weeks away from being able to play competitive games, but in good news he’s back in full training with us,” Inness said.
Prolific mid Dom Sheed (foot) and draftee Archer Reid (knee) are also building their loads on the comeback trail, with dynamic second-year player Elijah Hewett making strong progress from sesamoiditis.
“Elijah is back out there running. He’s feeling really good. He’s pain-free for the first time in about two years, which is great news,” Inness said.
“Still got a fair few boxes to tick before he comes back to play, so we’ll have a better idea of a timeframe in the next couple of weeks when he progresses.”
Tall defender Rhett Bazzo is set to resume running within a fortnight following a de-load period, while ruck recruit Matt Flynn has undergone successful tendon surgery where his hamstring meets the knee and has begun rehabilitation.
Injury list:
Rhett Bazzo Groin TBC
Tyler Brockman Knee Test
Jai Culley Knee 4-5 weeks
Harry Edwards Finger 2-3 weeks
Matt Flynn Knee 10 weeks
Reuben Ginbey Concussion Protocols Available round 1
Clay Hall Ankle 1-2 weeks
Elijah Hewett Foot TBC
Archer Reid Knee 8-10 weeks
Liam Ryan Hamstring 4-6 weeks
Dom Sheed Foot 6-8 weeks
