Highly-respected big man Drew Petrie will emerge from retirement and will add badly-needed key position support for the West Coast Eagles WAFL team.

Petrie could play as early as Saturday for the Eagles against East Fremantle at New Choice Homes Park to add yet another layer to an already intriguing encounter.

On a day that star ruckman Nic Naitanui will resume from a serious knee injury and key defender Tom Barrass will also return from a lengthy lay-off with a foot injury, the return of Petrie is another fascinating development.

Petrie was originally recruited at the end of the 2016 season as big man cover for Naitanui when he was recovering from his initial serious knee injury.

The former North Melbourne champion, who played 316 games with the Roos, was coaxed west by his former teammate and close friend Adam Simpson after being de-listed by his original club.

He played 16 games in 2017 and was a valuable contributor, both on and off-field.

Petrie has remained at the club in a game development and coaching role with both the club’s AFL and WAFL teams. Over recent weeks he has been gradually building his training loads as he has answered a call to play an on-field role.

There has been a dearth of key position options for the Eagles WAFL team in recent weeks, particularly with experienced forward Fraser McInnes (shoulder) and young defender Harry Edwards (foot) out of action with injury.

Petrie, 36, was able to be added to the club’s WAFL list ahead of the June 30 list lodgement deadline.

“Because of a set of circumstances, with a number of injuries to taller player on our list, I was approached by the club to see if I had any interest in building up my level of fitness to a level where I could play,” Petrie said.

“I thought about it for a few days, felt that I could help out by filling a void and over the last month or so I have been increasing my training to a point where I believe I can contribute and assist the development of our younger players.”