West Coast could blood another debutant for Sunday’s clash against the Western Bulldogs, with draftee Harvey Johnston part of an extended squad as the Eagles eye their first win.
The Eagles gave Harley Reid his first game in round one, while ruckman Harry Barnett started a match for the first time last week in the loss to GWS.
Now Johnston is in the 26-player squad ahead of Sunday’s Marvel Stadium clash, with the list to be culled by three on Friday afternoon.
Johnston, a midfielder-forward who impressed on a wing with two goals in last weekend’s WAFL scratch match against Subiaco, was recruited out of Sandringham in last year’s draft.
With Tyler Brockman, Luke Edwards, Campbell Chesser, and Ryan Maric, the starting replacement from last week, sitting alongside Barnett on the extended bench, West Coast currently has no outs.
Jack Darling, the Eagles’ seasoned spearhead despite a difficult season debut, is classified as a full-forward after being named during a lengthy interchange this time last week.
West Coast announced that teenage defender Coby Burgiel, who displayed encouraging play in the WAFL practice match last week, would miss many weeks of action following the removal of his appendix on Wednesday.
After suffering injuries in last week’s victory against Gold Coast, defensive pairing Ed Richards and Nick Coffield will be forced to start at least two different positions for the Bulldogs.
Taylor Duryea seems to be a lock to play, and James O’Donnell, Riley Garcia, Jack Macrae, and Rory Lobb are also possible additions.
EAGLES LINE-UP
B: C Jamieson, T Barrass, T Cole
HB: B Hough, J McGovern, J Jones
C: L Duggan, T Kelly, J Hunt
HF: H Reid, J Waterman, N Long
F: J Petruccelle, J Darling, J Cripps
R: B Williams, E Yeo, R Ginbey
IC from: A Gaff, T Brockman, L Edwards, C Chesser, H Johnston, H Barnett, J Williams, R Maric
