West Coast coach Adam Simpson has provided an injury update as the club embarks on its pre-season journey.
The Eagles were battered by injuries in 2022 en route to a two-win season, but the premiership coach says things are heading in the right direction.
“Oscar Allen, Tom Cole, Dom Sheed, Liam Duggan, Campbell Chesser, all these guys have had a really interrupted 12 months with significant injuries,” Simpson told SEN WA Mornings.
“So how we get those guys back to AFL. It’s not as easy as ‘they’ve had a year off they should be fine’, we need to start overlaying football.
“They’re all really fit and gone away and got right from a fitness point of view. The next step is to overlay the football component which in this day and age is harder than you think.
“They go that hard, they go turbo when they train and trying to get some of these guys that haven’t tackled anyone in 12 months back into the program is our newest challenge.
“You won’t see them at every session, it’s about managing them so come February they’re up and about.”
Simpson added that they haven’t yet had any serious injury setbacks in the off-season.
“No not big ones. Little niggles here and there and guys adapting to the program which is pretty intense,” he said.
“I reckon we had 30 (players) come back day one of pre-season two weeks before they needed to. We do ramp up pretty quick because of the short amount of time we have the players.
“The senior players start on the fifth and finish on the 16th of December. It ramps up really quick so there’s always niggles here and there.”
The Eagles added seven players across the National and Rookie drafts, with Simpson giving a rundown on how they’ve adapted to AFL life.
“We’re not going to put a limit on (whether they can play Round 1). We’re going to prepare them for that which is a slow build,” the North Melbourne premiership midfielder said.
“The gap between the draft and pre-season is getting bigger and bigger so not many players can just hit the ground running and join in with everything.
“We’re aiming for them to be right and available for early next year, but they’re 18-year-old kids.
“There’s some talent there we’re really pleased with. Reuben is probably the one with the biggest growth physically. He’s a real responder in the gym and he’s going to be a big boy.
“His best version of himself is going to be a few years away.
“Harry (Barnett) and (Elijah) Hewett look a bit more mature physically. They’re all pretty fit boys. We’ll manage them slowly.
“We understand that they’re kids, but at the same time there will be spots available.”
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