When life get a little bit tough for Nic Naitanui, the West Coast ruckman needs just a mere glance at his wrist to know things could be a hell of a lot worse.

In the early hours of May 1, Naitanui's good friend Luke Adams was left clinging to life following an alleged one-punch assault during a night out in Northbridge.

Doctors initially gave Adams little hope of surviving the attack and the subsequent surgery to release swelling on his brain, but the 19-year-old Swan Districts ruckman defied expectations to pull through.

Naitanui has been a regular visitor by Adams' bed-side over the past nine weeks and said his mate's fighting spirit had been a constant source of inspiration.

"Luke's been the main inspiration for me," Naitanui said on Monday.

"I tape his name on my wrist every weekend and when stuff gets pretty hard I just think of my mate who's in hospital struggling.

"He comes in and has a smile every time and says 'I saw my name on TV' and that kind of thing. It's just good to see him up and about at the moment.

"No one expected him to do so well. The first day after it happened they were pretty sad and there wasn't any good news from the doctors.

"But the stuff that he's done to pull through and achieve what he's achieved ... has been awesome.

"He's speaking a little bit now and he's up and walking about.

"In saying that he's only taking little steps, but he's come a long way since that point he was in ICU and really struggling."

Naitanui has been in career-best form this season and even took a mark-of-the-year contender against Carlton two weeks ago.

But the 21-year-old's time with Adams is what he's cherished most.

"He's always got something funny to say now that he can speak now," Naitanui said.

"It puts everything into perspective and lets you know how lucky you are to have good health.

"He even gave me a phone call after I took that mark the other week saying he can do better.

"He's watching (Swan Districts) games on the TV as well. He has that awareness and motor skills to know what's going on."

After witnessing first-hand Adams' pain, Naitanui doesn't want the same thing to happen to anyone else, urging people in the community to take a stand against violence.

Naitanui and his West Coast teammates wore white armbands at training on Monday in their show of support to Adams.

The Eagles' banner for Friday night's game against Geelong will also feature the statement 'West Coast Eagles supporters say NO to violence'.

"It not only ruins one family's life, it ruins a fair few," Naitanui said of the rising number of assaults.

"We'll be selling a few wrist bands and trying to raise a bit of money for the Luke Adams Foundation, which has been started up for a few weeks now."

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