The West Coast Eagles are preparing to unleash plenty of stars against Geelong at Leederville Oval on Friday, but prolific forwards Josh Kennedy and Jamie Cripps will not be among them.
Kennedy (foot) is elevating his running program with a view to being available for the club’s second JLT Community Series clash with Fremantle on March 10, while Cripps is continuing his build following pre-season surgery to remedy his own foot ailment.
General manager of football Craig Vozzo said he was pleased with the pair’s progress.
“Josh is training well. He had another hard day on the track (yesterday), mainly doing line running,” Vozzo said.
“He’s looking better and better. He won’t play this weekend coming, but he’s certainly still a chance for JLT 2.
“Crippa is building nicely. He’s progressing really quickly on the track in terms of his running and doing a bit more dynamic work as well in terms of change of directions.
“We haven’t set a return to play date at this stage, but he’s tracking ahead of schedule.”
While the Cats will be spared the task of manning the Eagles’ dangerous attacking duo, they will have their hands full containing the likes of Elliot Yeo, Daniel Venables, Chris Masten, Jeremy McGovern, Tom Barrass, and Jake Waterman, who have all been cleared to play on Friday.
Classy onballer Luke Shuey (adductor) is also in the frame to face Geelong, but he will have to pass a fitness test later in the week to do so.
Yeo (foot) and Venables (knee) are ready to go after playing three quarters of West Coast’s intraclub match.
Masten (calf) is in the same boat after bouncing back from a cork he sustained at training last week.
“Chris copped quite a significant knock to the calf early last week in some game simulation training, which held him up last week and he didn’t get to play in the intraclub match in Friday,” Vozzo said.
“I expect by the time Friday comes along that he’ll be ready to play against Geelong.”
Another intraclub match absentee, Jeremy McGovern, will line up against the Cats, albeit on limited game time.
Vozzo said the three-time all-Australian, who had a plate inserted in his ribs during the pre-season, was ready for a full contact hit-out.
“(McGovern’s) slowly, after the last week, done more and more contact work and he’s going to play some minutes against Geelong I expect; probably some reduced game time,” Vozzo said.
“He’s tracking well to play as we build into round one.”
Bookends Tom Barrass (foot) and Jake Waterman (ankle) are also expected to play managed minutes against Geelong.
Emerging forward Jarrod Brander has been cleared to play after sustaining a cork in last Friday’s run at Lathlain Park, while Will Schofield has had a quiet week on the track after copping a heavy hit during the intraclub match.
