The West Coast Eagles will be without Archer Reid and Tyler Brockman for the remainder of 2026 after both were ruled out for the season.
The decision has been made to place Reid's long-term development first as he continues his recovery from a knee injury, while Brockman has sustained a significant hamstring injury.
“We have made the decision, along with Archer, to rule him out for the season,” High Performance Manager Phil Merriman said.
“We feel that it will be too much risk to push him to return this year, and we are keen to make sure we get this right so that he can have a clear run at the off-season and pre-season.
“Scans have revealed Tyler has sustained a high-grade hamstring injury which will unfortunately see him miss the rest of the season.”
There was positive news for defender Brandon Starcevich, who will be available for selection this week after a precautionary assessment during Sunday’s game against the Western Bulldogs.
Young defender Josh Lindsay will not be available against Brisbane on Saturday night after picking up a minor quad injury, while Malakai Champion and Harry Barnett are aiming to be available the following week.
“Josh experienced quad tightness last week, and we will continue to manage that this week. We expect him to be available for selection next week,” Merriman said.
“Malakai had surgery last week to fix a small fracture in his hand. We are anticipating a quick turnaround, with a planned return in one week.
“Harry is experiencing some abdominal and groin symptoms at the moment. We will use the WAFL bye to try and get him close to being available the following week.”
Young ruckman Cooper Duff-Tytler continues to make encouraging progress in his recovery from a calf injury and is one-to-two weeks from returning.
“Cooper has been progressing well over the last week, which is a positive for his return,” Merriman said.
“He will continue to layer in football throughout the next few training sessions.”
Sam Allen and Reuben Ginbey are also continuing to build towards potential returns later in the season.
“Sam is continuing to build into football. We will continue to monitor how he is progressing and make a call on his return in the next few weeks,” Merriman said.
“Reuben is building his high-speed running volume and gradually feeling better with each session.”
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