West Coast defender Darren Glass concedes his time as captain is nearing an end, leaving the door ajar for a handover as early as at the completion of this AFL season.

Glass hasn't played since round eight due to a serious groin injury and will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to fix the complaint.

The 29-year-old, who took over the captaincy from Chris Judd at the end of 2007, is keen to play on until at least the end of his contract in 2012.

And while he remains the frontrunner to captain the club next year, Glass said the time to hand over the reins was fast approaching.

"(I'll) probably assess (whether I want to continue on in the role) at the end of the season," Glass said on Monday.

"The captaincy gets voted on at the end of each season, so part of it will be what the player group thinks.

"We've got some terrific young leaders developing.

"Matt Priddis has got his opportunity (to captain) the last couple of games, we'll see some other guys get a chance (over the remaining seven games of the season).

"So the timing (to step down) might be right sooner."

Should Glass decide to step aside, Beau Waters, Adam Selwood, Dean Cox, Josh Kennedy and Priddis would all be in line to take over the role.

Meanwhile, Glass remains confident he will overcome his groin troubles to return to his best next season.

"Quite a number of players have had this surgery at the football club and ex-teammates, I've had a chat to them, and the club's confident, I'm confident I'll be back ready to go next year," he said.

"I had the operation, it's been a couple of weeks now, so I'm getting a bit bored sitting around with nothing to do and all day to do it.

"I'm probably about five weeks away from jogging and then it's just a slow progression from there.

"I've got plenty of time up my sleeve.

"I'm contracted for another two (years), I'm confident I'll perform well in those years."

West Coast seem destined to collect their first ever wooden spoon but Glass said it was far from doom and gloom at the club.

"I was part of what was at the time the worst West Coast Eagles side in history in 2001," Glass said ahead of Saturday night's clash with fellow strugglers Essendon at Etihad Stadium.

"Four years later we played in a grand final.

"So I've seen that things can turn around pretty quick.

"We've got a lot of work to do though, but I'm very positive with where we're at.

"We've clearly got the talent there, it's just a matter of we're playing so many young guys at the same time, so that's where that inconsistent effort can come in.

"But I'm confident that we're going to get to where we want to get to."

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