Inspirational skipper Luke Shuey is set to be a welcome addition when West Coast hosts Collingwood in a Sunday afternoon blockbuster in round eight.
The dynamic onballer was a late omission from the side which overcame Fremantle by 30 points last round, with coach Adam Simpson revealing Shuey fell a day or two short of pulling on the boots in his recovery from a hamstring strain.
After missing two matches, the Norm Smith medallist is primed to return against the Pies at Optus Stadium as the Eagles gun for four-straight victories.
“Luke’s training really well. He was touch and go for last weekend. We erred on the side of caution and I think that was the right call in all of the circumstances, despite Luke dying to play,” General Manager – Football Craig Vozzo told westcoasteagles.com.au.
“If he gets through training, which we highly expect him to, he will be available to play against Collingwood this week.”
Brendon Ah Chee will also be monitored this week due to a back injury sustained against the Dockers after an attempted spectacular mark and heavy landing.
“Brendon, you might recall, went for a bit of a hang and fell directly on his lower back area and that’s caused him a bit of problem in terms of bruising etcetera,” Vozzo said.
“He’s still recovering from that, he’s very much on light duties at the start of the week. Hopefully he makes fast progression into the game and he will be a test I suspect later in the week.
“It will be dependent on how much freedom he has got through that lower back area and how he can train later in the week.”
After a lengthy rehabilitation, Mark Hutchings is on the verge of playing game minutes in a potential scrimmage against the Pies’ non-selected players following an iliotibial band complaint.
“Hutchy is ready to go, ready and raring to go,” Vozzo said.
Small forwards Jamaine Jones and Jack Petruccelle are still sidelined by hamstring injuries, with Jones suffering a minor setback on Saturday morning.
“It looks to be at the lower end (for Jones) but it’s probably set him back a week to two in his recovery back to play,” Vozzo said.
“Young Jack, we avoided surgery as we thought last week, and the early signs are good. He was on the track today doing some running with Jamaine.
“We’re still thinking it’s a four-to-five week process from here before we can consider him ready to train and play.”