West Coast coach Adam Simpson believes spearhead Josh Kennedy has avoided a significant ankle setback after a nasty roll during Thursday night’s grinding win over North Melbourne.
Kennedy twisted his ankle when he landed awkwardly from a marking contest, sending fears through an injury-hit Eagles camp as he limped to the bench and was put on ice for the second half.
In the club’s all-time leading goalkicker’s absence, Oscar Allen (three goals) and All Australian contender Liam Ryan (two) stood up when it counted in the 15-point win.
“I think he’s (Kennedy) OK. It’s a new injury to his ankle. He’s walking around. I think it was more precautionary than anything but we’ve got to see how he pulls up tomorrow,” Simpson said post-match.
“It could be just a garden-variety roll, but we won’t know until he pulls up.”
With several big names watching on – including skipper Luke Shuey (hamstrings), Elliot Yeo (groin) and Jeremy McGovern (hamstring) – Kennedy’s scare had Simpson concerned.
“Obviously. We’ve had a bit of a bad run with our good players getting injured. We got Dom (Sheed) back but we lost Gov, so we were still pretty depleted tonight,” he said.
“Hopefully the week off (before finals) gives us an opportunity to get those guys back, including JK.”
The Eagles will return home on Friday for home quarantine and to prepare for their first final in two weeks’ time, with their opponent and the venue still to be decided across the remainder of round 18.
If Richmond or Geelong loses to Adelaide and Sydney respectively then West Coast will finish in the top four and earn a double-chance and play a qualifying final on the road.
Should the Tigers and Cats both win then Optus Stadium will host an elimination final for the second year in a row.
“You start hoping teams win and lose - I’m just like every other West Coast supporter out there,” Simpson said.
“At least we put a bit of pressure on the two sides, they’ve got to win to lock away top four and if we don’t get it we finish fifth and we get to play at home.
“I’m glad we didn’t rest anyone. I don’t know if we’d have won if we rested too many. In the end we’re pretty happy, we’ve just got to get JK over the line.”
Simpson was confident Shuey, Jack Redden (thumb), Lewis Jetta (calf) and Mark Hutchings (hamstring) would be available for the opening final, while Jamie Cripps will play after the birth of his son, Reif, in Perth on Wednesday.
McGovern is an outside chance, however Yeo is unlikely.
Simpson was relieved to scrape past the 17th-placed Roos, who endured a torrid week after their loss to Fremantle.
“We came here to win. A lot of people have been potting North but they played with real spirit tonight,” he said.
“Every club is going through different situations, but when you’re on the road for 12 weeks – and they’ve been decimated by injuries as well – we prepared for them at their best and they weren’t far off it tonight. We got away with it.
“Our leaders stood up again in the last quarter and dragged us over the line. I’m not saying I was really disappointed with how we played, we could play better, but they just didn’t allow us to.
“Full credit to North. But we hung in there. We can sit back and watch the footy over the weekend.”
