1. The versatility of Oscar Allen throws a lot of options open to the coaching staff. While he looks like a natural forward – and has done since joining the club – he is also adept in defence. In the last two weeks he has spent time at both ends of the ground and has stood Fremantle star Nathan Fyfe on occasions in the back half. We also saw Allen play with good effect as the ruck support for Nic Naitanui last season, so he looms as the consummate all-rounder.

00:45

Oscar takes advantage of Gaffy's setup

Oscar Allen gets on the end of a kick from Andrew Gaff for a major

2. Of the young brigade looking to press for an early season opportunity developing midfielder Xavier O’Neill put himself at the front of the queue. O’Neill had enjoyed a solid pre-season and franked that work with a 19-possession performance against Fremantle. He was good in the clinches, worked the ball out of congestion, often feeding it t teammates on the outside and made smart decisions. We saw a bit of him last year and he might be ready to emerge.

3. Some things don’t change and the ability of Andrew Gaff to accumulate the football is one of them. It has been a constant throughout his career and was again evident against the Dockers. He had 31 possessions and six marks in a typically ubiquitous performance underlined by his capacity to cover the ground with apparent ease.

4. Star ruckman Nic Naitanui did all that was asked of him in a managed performance that saw him sit out the last 40 minutes of the game. He had only five possessions, but two of those were trademark centre clearances. The 2020 John Worsfold medallist also had 22 hit outs and in tandem with Nathan Vardy gave the Eagles edge in the ruck battle.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 07: Nic Naitanui of the Eagles and Lloyd Meek of the Dockers contest the ruck during the AFL Community Series match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers at Optus Stadium on March 07, 2021 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images via AFL Photos)

5. With the preliminaries out of the way it is now a matter of fine-tuning ahead of round one against Gold Coast and much of the focus over the next 13 days will fall on star forward Josh Kennedy and Tim Kelly. Kennedy (calf) and Kelly (thumb) did not play in either of the hit outs against Fremantle in the last fortnight, but should be ready to play in the season opener. The club will also monitor the fitness of Luke Shuey (ankle), and both Zac Langdon and Brad Sheppard who received nasty head knocks in yesterday’s game.