A trim-looking Jeremy McGovern isn’t the only key defensive pillar at West Coast who has been turning heads since returning to Mineral Resources Park.

The four-time All Australian’s sidekick Tom Barrass has also impressed, with isolation training clearly paying dividends for the 24-year-old.

Barrass, a 196cm powerhouse listed at 96kg, spoke at length about the changes to his life to find better balance alongside his football in early March, after admitting foot surgery in 2019 and the subsequent recovery tested his love for the game.

Pursuits outside of football including gardening and changing his university degree from science to arts helped reignite his passion, and fellow defender Brad Sheppard believes Barrass hasn’t missed a beat in his time away from the club.

“One bloke that has stood out to me, he was in my little training group, is Tom Barrass,” Sheppard told TAB Radio.

“He looks really trim and terrific and the way he trained last week was really positive signs and he’s a really integral part of our team.

“I was really pleased with how he came back and hopefully that means he’s going to set himself up for a great year.”

Training as an entire squad for the first time in two months on Tuesday, the Eagles looked sharp during their first contact session.

Boom recruit Tim Kelly and star big man Nic Naitanui showed their class around stoppages during match simulation, with wingman Andrew Gaff and Jack Redden racking up plenty of possessions.  

Tireless small forward Jamie Cripps hit the scoreboard multiple times, while Liam Ryan’s defensive pressure and selflessness also caught the eye.

Emerging defenders Jackson Nelson, Tom Cole and Josh Rotham were in the thick of the action rebounding from the back half, and Oscar Allen moved well after dealing with several setbacks since the end of last season.

With the next four rounds of the fixture revealed on Monday the countdown is on in earnest until West Coast returns to action against Gold Coast on Saturday, June 13 and Sheppard was confident the Eagles would be ready to fire at Metricon Stadium.

“I think we’re going to be pretty well placed,” he said.

“By not having as much contact in the last few months the body is actually feeling pretty good at the moment. Ideally you’d like to come in off two or three warm-up games to be able to play but it’s not the case, and it’s not the case for everyone else.

“It’s the best with what we can do at the moment and I’m feeling confident in myself.

“I know the work I’ve put in and teammates have put in we’ll be pretty close to cherry-ripe come round two.”