West Coast Eagles co-captain Liam Duggan has praised the team’s young guns and their positive attitudes as the season fast approaches.

The vibes are high within the group, and Duggan is hopeful it will filter through to game day as the Eagles prepare to face Port Adelaide in round one at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.  

“It’s been contagious, and a lot of it is the amount of young blokes that we’ve got,” Duggan said.

“They’re just happy playing footy for a living at the moment, in the sunshine, in March, it’s 30 degrees out there and we’re kicking the footy with our best mates.

“That energy, we’re sort of thriving off that at the moment and we hope those boys bring that on game day for us too.”

With the talented youngsters impressing on the training track, Duggan said there will be a number of players in contention for round one selection.

“We’ve got a few boys who weren’t out there against Adelaide (in the practice match) who are right to go, so the team will probably change a little bit,” Duggan said.

“The young blokes that have been out there for us and putting their best foot forward have done a really great job so, they will definitely be in contention.

“Although I’m co-captain now, I don’t know exactly what the team is going to look like, so there’s a little bit of that anticipation for me as well.

“We’ve got some boys who have impressed us early on and deserve an opportunity so, whether they get it or not in round one, we’ve got some boys knocking on the door.”

Duggan expects he will be spending the majority of his time through the midfield in the season-opener against the Power.

"I think it will be through the midfield, and obviously they (Port) have a pretty potent midfield,” Duggan said.

“They really like to control the corridor and I think their ball movement speed through that corridor when they’ve got some pace on the game looked really impressive.

“They’ve got a few bulls in there, and then they’ve got some blokes who are lightning on their feet so it’s a really great combo that they’ve got going.

“I think that will be my role, to compliment the midfield and our inside bulls and provide a bit of balance and defensive cover as well, that’s been my role through the pre-season with the midfield so looking to do that and get on the move myself a bit.”

In positive rehab news, Liam Ryan (hamstring) and Dom Sheed (foot) are showing plenty of progress.

“It’s awesome, ‘Flyin’ (Ryan) looked really good, so happy for him that he’s back out there and feeling good in himself and happy,” Duggan said.

“He’s one of those blokes that on the track, he’s just invaluable with his energy too and obviously what he can do on the football field.

“And I just saw Dom in the gym and asked him how he was feeling and yeah, no issues, Dom is pretty drama free, shrugs the shoulders and said he’s all good, so nice to see those boys back out there and not too far away.”