West Coast coach Adam Simpson is looking to evolve the Eagles by getting more games into some of the club’s younger players.
Young Eagles trio Connor West, Jermaine Jones and Jack Petruccelle have all put their best foot forward in the preseason, while premiership forward Willie Rioli is “ticking all the boxes” after returning to the fold last season following a two-year drug ban.
Simpson says 46-game Eagle Petruccelle has been the club’s “standout trainer” over the summer months while Jones “hasn’t put a foot wrong” in his preparation for the 2022 season.
“We’ve got to keep evolving. So definitely some opportunity will present for some of the kids,” Simpson told Sportsday WA.
“Even with some of the players who exited last season, obviously with ‘Shepp’ (Brad Sheppard) not continuing on this year as well, there’s opportunity. So we’ll definitely give that to some of the younger players.
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“Connor West is having a good pre-season. Jermaine Jones hasn’t put a foot wrong. Not much has been said about Willie Rioli, which is good, but he’s ticking all the boxes as well. And I suppose our standout trainer has been Jack Petruccelle.
“Hopefully some opportunities present to those guys, and we get some really good senior footy out of them.”
Jones has played 24 AFL games – seven with Geelong and 17 with the Eagles – since making his senior debut in 2018.
West made his Eagles debut in 2021 and finished the campaign with five games next to his name.