A beautiful autumnal day, players stepping it up a gear on the track. And doing their thing in the middle of the best – albeit empty – stadium in Australia, if not the southern hemisphere.

There is a genuine purpose in this hit out as the West Coast Eagles players prepare for round one at the same venue. Optus Stadium will not be heaving because under COVID restrictions it can only accommodate 75% of capacity, but that will be a revelation.

It will be the biggest crowd at a WA sporting event for more than a year. And all of the players want to be part of it.

They have been building to this moment for months. Forget about an abridged pre-season, they were preparing in private before the full squad assembled in early January.

And this has been the target – to be one of the 22 (now 23 because of the sub rule introduced this week) to combat the Gold Coast Suns on Sunday.

Today at Optus Stadium marked the final opportunity to impress. While 15 or 16 players are an absolute lock, the last six or seven spots are open.

It was hot inside the arena, as hot as it will be at the 3.10pm bouncedown on Sunday. The tempo of the session matched the atmospheric conditions.

Luke Shuey

Senior players Josh Kennedy, the club’s greatest every goalkicker, and Tim Kelly did what they needed to do – unfortunately watched on for the majority of the session by injured skipper Luke Shuey.

The star midfielder has a low-grade hamstring strain and will miss the next couple of weeks.

Jack Darling and Nic Naitanui did their thing, peripheral players Xavier O’Neill, Jamaine Jones, Zac Langdon and Alex Witherden threw their hands in the air and yelled in unison ‘pick me'.

Nathan Vardy

Liam Duggan is ready to play in the midfield if so required, the laconic Jeremy McGovern looked sharp and Nathan Vardy showed he was ready if the match committee opted to go with two genuine ruckmen.

Indeed everyone who is available would have left the stadium feeling like they had given themselves the best possible chance.

Now their fate rests in the hands of the selection panel. Settling on the final 23 will be difficult. And so it should be.