One of the difficulties for fringe players around the country this year is finding an avenue to press for selection.

With AFL-listed players around the country barred from playing in second tier competitions, West Coast players outside the senior team have posted their claim through training performance or in “scrimmage” against opposition teams.

West Coast is likely to have two vacancies this weekend with skipper Luke Shuey and small forward Jamaine Jones going down with relatively minor hamstring tweaks in Saturday’s win over Sydney.

If it’s like-for-like, we’re looking at a midfielder or a small forward.

That would put the likes of Jarrod Brander, who missed the Swans game with a hip injury, and Brayden Ainsworth, who was the emergency, at the front of the queue to replace Shuey.

But there are other candidates, including Xavier O’Neill, who has impressed through this period and is close to being ready for a shot at the elite level.

Brander is also an option to play forward in a re-shuffle, although that is unlikely given his size would make it the land of the giants inside the attacking arc.

The small forward role has three candidates, who appear to be ahead of the pack. Jack Petruccelle played the first two games on the Gold Coast before losing his spot, Jarrod Cameron showed his capabilities in seven games last year, while Nic Reid, who played in the club’s WAFL team last year is pressing.

Cameron has recovered from a groin issue and has been under notice in scrimmages against Brisbane and Gold Coast while Reid, a mature-aged recruit, was worn a similar path in recovering from a hamstring issue.

With opportunities at stake, all of those players have taken to the track with genuine purpose, even the Monday session which is a loosener in the first step post-recovery.