West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen is set to spend an extended period on the sidelines following a shock injury revelation post-Round 1.
Meanwhile, a pair of veteran Eagles are edging closer to a return from respective ailments.
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According to West Coast, the star goalkicker underwent scans on Tuesday which revealed ‘bone stress’ in his right knee.
The surprising development comes after Allen did not report any soreness to club doctors ‘before, during or immediately after’ the Eagles’ Round 1 loss to Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
While the Eagles did not officially declare a return-to-play timeframe for their co-skipper, 7News Perth reporter Ryan Daniels said his “understanding” was Allen will miss between six and eight weeks amid consistent reassessments.
Elsewhere at Lathlain, veterans Liam Ryan (hamstring) and Dom Sheed (foot) are nearing returns to play.
“Liam and Dom are both progressing well. We expect to see them in pretty much full training this week,” West Coast performance boss Mat Inness told westcoasteagles.com.au on Tuesday night.
“Now it’s just a matter of building up their loads, so hopefully we’ll see them return to play in the next three-to-four weeks.”
Emerging midfielder Jai Culley, meanwhile, is said to be a fortnight away from returning to action from an ACL rupture suffered in Round 8 last year.
“Jai is going really well. He has been in full training the last couple of weeks, so he’s probably another two weeks away from hopefully returning to play,” Inness said.
Disappointingly, up-and-comers Rhett Bazzo (groin) and Elijah Hewett (foot) remain without concrete timelines for return, while ex-Giant Matt Flynn and draftee Archer Reid (both knee) will continue to be sidelined in the medium term.
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