The West Coast Eagles’ availability is set to be boosted further with a quartet of Eagles closing in on comebacks.
After 12 AFL-listed players took part in a practice match win over Subiaco, key defender Harry Edwards is set to add to that number and resume in the WAFL Eagles’ season-opener against Swan Districts on Saturday.
“Harry has recovered from his broken finger, so if he gets through training on Thursday like we expect he’ll play this week,” High Performance Manager Mat Inness told westcoasteagles.com.au.
Dom Sheed and Jai Culley are not far behind, with the midfielders eyeing potential returns next weekend.
It will be a long-awaited comeback for both left-footers, with Culley putting in a power of work since he ruptured his ACL in round eight last year and Sheed overcoming a foot issue that emerged in December.
“Dom is going well. He has been in full training for the last two weeks just building up his load but we expect to see him in the next week or two as well,” Inness said.
“Jai, off his ACL last year, has been in full training for five or six weeks now. He’s a week or two away from returning to play hopefully.”
Dynamic goalkicker Liam Ryan is also pushing towards returning following hamstring surgery and draftee Archer Reid is making strong progress from his knee problem.
“Liam is going really well. He has obviously missed a lot of football as well, so now it’s about building up his durability so he can have a good run at it hopefully,” Inness said.
“He’s probably two-to-three weeks away from playing.
“Archer joined in with match sim last week, so we’re hoping that Archer starts to return to play in about three-to-four weeks.”
Big men Matt Flynn (knee) and Rhett Bazzo (groin) completed running work on Tuesday at Mineral Resources Park and are aiming to be available in six-to-eight weeks.
“Rhett and ‘Flynny’ both ran for the first time today and moved really well out there,” Inness said.
“They’re starting their on-legs rehab now so hopefully they start to progress pretty quickly.”
Meanwhile, co-captain Oscar Allen has undergone a minor arthroscopic operation to trim cartilage in his knee and is managing bone stress.
Second-year midfielder Elijah Hewett will undergo foot surgery in Melbourne this week that will keep him sidelined until after the mid-season bye.
“Oscar’s surgery went well. We’ll have it re-scanned in about two-to-three weeks and we’ll progress from there,” Inness said.
“Elijah is heading over to Melbourne with us. He’ll have surgery later this week and then we’ll give a timeframe based off the surgery after that.”
Injury list
Oscar Allen Knee 8-10 weeks
Rhett Bazzo Groin 6-8 weeks
Jai Culley Knee 1 week
Matt Flynn Knee 6-8 weeks
Elijah Hewett Foot Post-bye
Archer Reid Knee 3-4 weeks
Liam Ryan Hamstring 2-3 weeks
Dom Sheed Foot 1-2 weeks
