West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has completed his first stint back from a torn ACL in the WAFL.
Naitanui got through unscathed, getting through three quarters of footy against East Fremantle.
He finished with 22 hit-outs, 10 disposals and four tackles, including a bone crunching one early in the game.
The ruckman was up against decent competition, going up against ex-Freo ruckmen Jon Griffin and Luke Strnadica.
West Coast coach Adam Simpson expected Naitanui to take on the Hawks next week if he got through this WAFL game.
“He needs to get some minutes up and tick off the last box before he comes back to seniors next week,” Simpson told 7 News on Monday night.
“We went down a similar path last year. He played a WAFL game and that seemed to set him up pretty well for the start of the season.
“So we’ll do the same thing. It’s been a pretty short turnaround, it’s been just over 11 months, so this will cap it off well.”
Nic Naitanui leaves the field after 64 minutes of play.
— West Coast Eagles (@WestCoastEagles) June 22, 2019
He's done for the day with 25 hitouts, 10 disposals, four tackles and three marks to his name.
🦅 93
🦈 24#WAFL
I think Nic Naitanui has missed footy a bit. #WAFL #AFL pic.twitter.com/zgLNM8pWrq
— The Game Changer (@slant6225) June 22, 2019