Midfield coach Brady Rawlings is confident that the three inclusions for Sunday’s clash with Fremantle will execute their roles and have an impact for the team.
The Eagles will be without Jeremy McGovern and Scott Selwood through injury, as well as Mark LeCras who is serving a one-match suspension.
Nic Naitanui has also been ruled out, missing a second match due to the sudden death of his mother in Fiji.
In come Josh Hill, Jamie Bennell and Callum Sinclair, who was a late withdrawal from last Saturday’s clash against Hawthorn with a knee injury.
Rawlings said the development of the squad at East Perth has been important for West Coast’s depth.
“That’s definitely been a positive sign from this year,” Rawlings told SportFM on Friday.
“We’ve probably added depth to our list and we’ve bene really happy with the development of some of those younger guys.
“The development of Jamie bennell, even though he hasn’t been playing week in, week out, his performance last week was excellent at East Perth and he comes back into the team.
“We’ve been happy with what’s been going on at East Perth, especially over the last two months, and we can bring guys into the team with full confidence that they’ll play their role and have an impact.
“Although we’d still like to have our best 22 on the park, it’s good to have able to have the next eight to 10 guys come in and still play their role.”
One such player was Scott Lycett who was brought into the team last weekend to face the Hawks in the absence of ruckmen Naitanui and Sinclair.
Sinclair returns to the side in the nick of time, with the towering Aaron Sandilands in exceptional form for the Dockers.
Rawlings said the ruck battle would take on particular importance this Sunday.
“We were really happy with what Scotty brought to the table [last weekend], and having Cal back, against such a great opponent this week in Sandilands, it’s something we definitely needed to bring back into the side,” Rawlings said.
“Hopefully between the two of them, they can put on a really good contest against such a dominant force in Sandilands.
“Each team that comes up against Freo have to plan so much around Aaron and we’ll be no different.
“We need to nullify him as best we can.”
A West Coast win will keep the Eagles in second position, increasing the likelihood of Perth hosting two finals in the first week.
