West Coast vice-captain Beau Waters is adamant he will play again this AFL season, saying his latest elbow injury isn't nearly as bad as the one that threatened to end his career two years ago.

Waters was sidelined for 18 months when he dislocated his left elbow in mid-2008, with the first few rounds of operations failing to fix the joint before a last-ditch elbow reconstruction finally did the trick.

The 25-year-old returned in fine fashion last year but suffered another major setback earlier this month when he dislocated his opposite elbow while bracing for a fall in the Eagles' round two victory over Port Adelaide.

Although Waters isn't sure of an exact return date, he is optimistic of playing at least a few rounds before the year's out.

"It feels really good, the surgeon's very confident," Waters said on Monday.

"The recovery time is going to be sometime during the year and I look forward to getting back and playing later in the year.

"The fact that it's a different dislocation - the left elbow (that I injured in 2008) was out for a lot longer, (because) both ligaments were severely damaged.

"This is only a one-ligament injury.

"I know what needs to be done (to get back on the field), I know what I can push and what I can't push."

Waters, who was almost certain to take over the captaincy from current skipper Darren Glass at the end of the year, said he had given little thought to whether the injury could hamper his leadership ambitions.

"I don't really think about the captaincy at all to be honest," Waters said.

"I think about my role as the vice-captain and how I can best play that.

"If I'm playing football or not playing football on game day, I think I'm still a good leader around the club.

"For me I very rarely sit back and think what it would be like to be the captain."

Waters is still restricted by a heavy brace on his elbow, but said people were starting to warm to the contraption.

"My wife really likes being combed with it. She likes the contrast of the warm hand and the cold metal on her face," he joked.

And with West Coast sitting at 2-2 heading into their bye round, Waters felt the club had turned the corner since last year's wooden spoon campaign.

"It's been very much a team effort for the first four weeks," he said.

"We're not happy we've lost the last two games but we're definitely more impressed with our pressure and the things we're doing defensively."

Waters joined forces with teammates Daniel Kerr, Ashton Hams, Sam Butler, Josh Kennedy and Ash Smith on Monday to help promote the Cancer Council's Me No Hair charity - a campaign Waters has been involved with for six years.

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