Seven West Coast Eagles will come off the club’s injury list after overcoming their various ailments during the bye week.
Click here to view the full St John of God Health Care Injury List
General manager of football Craig Vozzo confirmed that Luke Shuey, Liam Ryan, Chris Masten, Will Schofield, Eric Mackenzie, Hamish Brayshaw and Tony Olango were fit and available for AFL or WAFL selection this weekend.
Shuey and Ryan would have been ready to go if there was a fixture last week, while Masten and Schofield proved their injured hamstrings were game-ready during a trying main training session on Saturday.
“Chris has had a really good build up. He got through his hamstring protocol testing on Saturday, trained well this week and he’s available to play,” Vozzo said.
“Will’s had a similar training regime and rehabilitation phase to Chris Masten and he’s tracked in the same way.
“He got through a big session last Saturday and has trained well this week. He should be available to be selected on the weekend.”
In even more positive news, 2014 John Worsfold medallist Eric Mackenzie and first-year Eagle Hamish Brayshaw are ready to play their first official fixtures of the year.
Mackenzie has not been sighted since undergoing surgery in October to correct a rare condition which causes stiffness and inflammation in his big toes, while Brayshaw (knee) has not played a game since featuring in West Coast’s practice match against Fremantle in March.
“Eric’s had a really big period both in the gym and on the track. He’s done everything right and we think we’re nearly there,” Vozzo said.
“We’ve just got our fingers crossed for this last training session prior to the game on the weekend. Assuming all goes well with that, he will make his debut for the season.
“It’s been a long time out of football unfortunately for Hamish, but he’s done a good job in getting himself back to this position where if we can get through the last bit of training this week, hopefully he’ll make his debut at East Perth on the weekend.”
Rookie ruckman Tony Olango (ankle) has been cleared to represent the Royals on Saturday, while Daniel Venables (ankle) is edging towards his return to play.
Vozzo said the exciting second-year player could be running around in as little as two weeks.
“As we mentioned last week, Dan Venables has turned the corner,” Vozzo said.
“He had a really sharp session yesterday with the main group down at Optus. He’s looking better and better. We’re hoping now that it’s only imminent that he’ll play in the next two weeks.”
