West Coast forward Jake Waterman is a test to return against North Melbourne on Saturday, but star midfielder Tim Kelly has been ruled out of a second-straight match.
Waterman fell just short of playing against St Kilda last round after hurting his shoulder at training, while Kelly was ruled out with a hip complaint the day before the game.
“We gave Jake as much time as we could to try and get him up, but unfortunately he missed. We’re hoping he plays this week,” High Performance Manager Mat Inness told westcoasteagles.com.au.
“Tim Kelly has been carrying a hip injury for a week or two. He missed last week, he will miss again this week.”
Several other Eagles are set to return after the bye, headlined by spearhead and co-captain Oscar Allen who has not played since round one due to a knee injury.
Allen has been ramping up his training recently, and is likely to be available against Essendon in round 15 alongside Luke Edwards (concussion protocols) and potentially Jayden Hunt (toe).
“Oscar is going really well. He will join in training tomorrow and straight after the bye we’re hoping to see him out there,” Inness said.
“Jayden Hunt has been carrying his toe for a number of weeks. We took the opportunity to give him a week off. He’ll miss this week as well, just to incorporate the bye in there, so hopefully we’ll see him just after the bye again.
“Luke Edwards with his concussion, he’s back into modified training. He’ll start some contact next week and we’ll hopefully see him in full training in the bye week.”
Meanwhile, Elijah Hewett (foot) and Rhett Bazzo (groin) are making solid progress from their respective ailments.
“Elijah and Rhett are both progressing really well with their rehab, had a good week and again will start to integrate into drills in the next week or two,” Inness said.
“Their timeframe remains pretty similar to what it was last week.”
Injury list
Oscar Allen Knee 1-2 weeks
Rhett Bazzo Groin 3-5 weeks
Luke Edwards Concussion Protocols 1 week
Elijah Hewett Foot 5-7 weeks
Jayden Hunt Toe 2-3 weeks
Tim Kelly Hip 1-2 weeks
Noah Long Knee Season
Jake Waterman Shoulder Test
