They have been waiting for five months, but the next five days will seem just as long!

For the West Coast Eagles players, the long summer of preparation is over, but now it’s time to get out onto Patersons Stadium and put into practice the methodology taught by Adam Simpson and his coaching team.

The excitement levels were obvious as the players trained today in preparation for Sunday’s clash against the Western Bulldogs, a game which marks the opening of the 2014 campaign.

PHOTO GALLERY: Click here to check out all the best snaps from the session

With almost a completely full list of healthy players from which to choose the starting 22, the Eagles match committee will have plenty to ponder.

And it might just come down to training form!

With that in mind, today’s session was sharp; clean skills evident in every drill, high concentration levels focused on all that was happening around them.

Amid that session, played out with a selection of music blaring from speakers near the players’ race, there was a sense of unity and, in one or two players, a little nervous energy.

Only a handful of players would feel like they are lock-ins for a spot in the 22, so the rest were doing everything they could to impress.

Uncompromising defender Beau Waters was on the track, but will not be available. He will spend the next month building up his base, having missed so much of the grunt work because of a shoulder injury, and hopefully he can avoid a bout of surgery.

Midfielder Mark Hutchings is out with a back injury and developing key position player Tom Barrass is recovering from a hip injury. But all others should be available, ensuring that a strong combination takes the field on Sunday.