Josh Kennedy is set to make his round one selection case at West Coast’s main training session tomorrow.
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The dual Coleman medallist performed strongly in last Friday’s intraclub match at Mineral Resources Park, testing the club’s most experienced defenders for the 50 minutes he was involved in the contest.
Eagles general manager of football Craig Vozzo said Kennedy needed to pass a fitness test in order to get the green light to face the Lions at The Gabba.
“Josh had a really good hit-out in our intraclub last Friday. He hit all his markers and looked really sharp,” Vozzo said.
“He’s going to train this week to his program and do a lot of our main training as well and we’ll make a decision later in the week.”
While Kennedy is in the running to play the season opener, two other senior Eagles – Will Schofield and Jamie Cripps – will not be available to take on Brisbane.
Vozzo said the experienced pair were at least one week away from being ready to go.
“Schoey copped a nasty knock to the thigh, which ended up being far more complicated than just a corked thigh,” Vozzo said.
“It’s taken quite a while to get back to this point, but very pleasingly he turned the corner over the last three or four days and will do the majority of full training on Wednesday. We expect probably another week and then we will see him play.
“Crippa is well ahead of schedule to the forecast we had probably three or four weeks ago. He’s really progressing quickly and took part in our intraclub last Friday, which was a really pleasing step forward for Jamie. We expect that he is going to play some game minutes in the next one or two weeks.”
In more positive news, Brad Sheppard (cork) has been given the go-ahead to travel to Brisbane and Category B Rookie Brodie Riach should be available for the WAFL Eagles’ practice match against East Perth on Saturday after overcoming a wrist strain.
Vozzo said draftee Jarrod Cameron would be ready to resume in a week after suffering an ankle injury almost a fortnight ago.
“Jarrod Cameron suffered an ankle sprain at training probably about 12 days ago,” he said.
“We’ve taken a conservative approach given that he’s a first-year player. He’s hitting all his markers in terms of his rehab and we expect that he’ll play some minutes not this week, but more likely next week.”
The club is yet to set a return to play date for ruckman Nic Naitanui, but Vozzo said the 2012 all-Australian was advancing through his rehabilitation program smoothly.
“Nic Naitanui is again hitting all the markers he needs to with our (strength and conditioning) staff, both on the track and in the gym,” he said.
“We’ll report more as things unfold through each phase of his rehab.”
