Eagles pair ruled out for rest of season
West Coast's injury woes are so bad that coach John Worsfold admits he may have to select some out of form players for Sunday's AFL clash with Essendon.
The Eagles' horrendous injury run got even worse when it was confirmed utility Brent Staker and forward Josh Kennedy required season-ending surgery.
Staker ruptured a ligament in his right thumb and also received a small fracture during Sunday's western derby loss to Fremantle, while Kennedy requires a full shoulder reconstruction plus rest for his troublesome knee.
With Kennedy, Staker, Daniel Kerr (knee), Brett Jones (knee), Adam Hunter (knee/shoulder), Beau Waters (elbow), Chris Masten (groin), Mitch Brown (knee) and Shannon Hurn (leg) already ruled out for the season, and Matt Rosa (ankle) unlikely to feature again, Worsfold conceded he may have to call upon a few fresh faces for the match against Essendon.
"It's as bad as I've ever seen it," Worsfold said.
"We just had a quick look and we've still got about 30 available (for selection) but that includes every available player.
"It includes a couple of players who haven't played for us yet and it includes a couple of young players that aren't in what we consider good enough form to be considered.
"It's fair to say our 25 might have players that we don't think are in good enough form ... and not good enough form in terms of their last week but overall they're going okay.
"It's fairly thin but overall we could possibly go in with only one change this week, with Staker out, so that's a bonus."
Worsfold said Kennedy, who was part of the trade deal that sent Chris Judd to Carlton, could have played on with the shoulder injury but damage to the posterior cruciate ligament in his knee restricted the forward's pace off the mark.
"Josh Kennedy tried to train on Monday and push off and couldn't go flat out, he couldn't run with the way his knee was," Worsfold said.
Worsfold said the club had no option but to send Staker in for surgery.
"It's a pretty bad injury that if he doesn't fix it now he risks having a thumb that doesn't work for the rest of his life," Worsfold said.
Worsfold said the likes of Ryan Davis, Sam Butler, Tim Houlihan and Will Schofield would come under consideration for selection this week.
James Thomson, Tony Notte and Patrick McGinnity are the only players on West Coast's senior list yet to make their AFL debut.
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