West Coast will have almost a full squad to pick from for its clash with Gold Coast this Saturday night.
Determined midfielder Mark Hutchings headlines those ruled unavailable, with the 2018 premiership Eagle working his way back from surgery.
Hutchings has been building up his change of direction and running exercises in recent weeks and could be back training with the squad soon.
“Mark had the ITB (iliotibial band) surgery, which he’s recovering well from. He’s gradually ramping up his running and other activities,” general manager – football Craig Vozzo told westcoasteagles.com.au.
“We expect he’ll do a fair bit more next week and hopefully in around a fortnight you might see him doing some more main training with the group.”
Emerging goalsneak Jarrod Cameron remains on the comeback trail after groin complaints but the 20-year-old is making strong progress.
“We’re managing him more conservatively given his age. He’s had a few OP (osteitis pubis) issues that have been lingering but is in a much better position than he was two or three months ago,” Vozzo said.
“But we don’t want to take that for granted, so he’s on a managed program to make sure we get him right.”
Former Geelong small Jamaine Jones (ankle) and Nic Reid (hamstring) – both added as supplementary selection period players earlier this year – are also getting through plenty of work.
“Nic has had a whole lot of ongoing things since he had that shoulder surgery (last year). The shoulder is really good, that’s a really good outcome, but at the moment we’re just making sure we get his hamstring right,” Vozzo said.
“He’s had a few little nagging issues with the hamstring. He’s dying to get back out there and we’re looking forward to having him back and it won’t be too long before you see him with the main group.
“Jamaine is going well. He had a rest to a degree over the time that everyone was away because of an ankle problem.
“That seems to have resolved the ongoing symptoms and he’s ramping back up to full training, in fact had game minutes (in match simulation) last Friday night. Won’t be long and he’ll be available for consideration.”
Vozzo confirmed rookie Mitch O’Neill planned to join the squad back in Perth at the end of their Gold Coast stint after remaining in Tasmania with family recovering from a lower back stress injury.
“We’re hoping at the end of this period over at the Gold Coast we re-scan him and those are positive results,” Vozzo said.
“It’s going to be a long road but it will be good to get him back as soon as we can back in Perth.”
Meanwhile, young ruckman Callum Jamieson is also aiming to play some football during the hub stint in Queensland as he continues to manage his developing body.
