Luckless Eagle Zane Trew dusted off the cobwebs on Saturday afternoon, returning to the WAFL Eagles side after missing nine months of football with a number of injury setbacks.

The exciting youngster was knocked down late in 2021 with stress fractures in his back, and a further blow came mid pre-season when Trew discovered he had shin splints.

This catapulted the one-to-two month injury into a full nine months, with Trew admitting he felt a bit “rusty” after spending so long on the sidelines, but was ecstatic to get through his first match back unscathed.

“I pulled up well from the game on the weekend, recovered well and ready to train this week. I was actually surprised, thought I’d be in more pain,” Trew said.

“I was bloody nervous going into it, had a lot of mixed emotions, I was pretty excited, nervous, but I just couldn’t wait to get back out there and be amongst it again.

“It was just good to be playing with the boys, and hopefully I’ll just keep building my confidence every week and getting better and better.

“My touch wasn’t there as much, I was a bit rusty, definitely felt like I’d missed nine months of football, but each week I go on, I’ll look to improve.

“It’s been a long road, but back now and can’t wait to play more minutes and more games with my mates.

“I’m just happy I came out of it with no injuries.”

Trew joined returning defender Josh Rotham in the Eagles’ side, with the marking magnet impressing in strong back-to-back WAFL performances under new coach Rob Wiley.

Major ball winner Jamaine Jones was also amongst the best, finishing the day with 26 disposals and three marks, while Rotham had 21 touches and seven grabs.

“’Roth’ and ‘JJ’ were really good. ‘Rothy’ always plays really well down back, sets up the play for us, and ‘JJ’ played a different role down back, he’s usually in the midfield or up forward or on the wing," Trew said.

“But a different role for him, played really well, got plenty of the ball, actually dominated back there, it’s good for him to play well.

“It was disappointing losing, nobody likes losing, but I thought all the AFL boys stood up and played well, and the WAFL boys are building chemistry with us AFL boys.

“Joey Deegan was great, and hopefully we can keep building, get a win. I don’t think we were too far off in that first half, started well and played some good footy, so hopefully can build on that and play better in the next couple of weeks.”

West Coast now prepare to take on East Fremantle at the WACA this weekend, with the Sharks coming off two wins against Swan Districts and East Perth.

“It’s going to be a difficult challenge, but one that we’re up for," Trew said.

"We’re building on every game and are excited to play this weekend at the WACA.”