West Coast recruit Drew Petrie is almost certain to face his former side North Melbourne in round one after Scott Lycett was officially ruled out of the start of the AFL season.
Lycett dislocated his left shoulder while playing a WAFL practice match over the weekend and there's a chance he could miss most of the season.
Eagles coach Adam Simpson is hopeful Lycett won't need a shoulder reconstruction, but said the club would wait for further analysis of scans before determining a course of action.
"I've been waiting by the phone," Simpson said after the club's season launch on Tuesday.
"Initial X-rays say that he's OK in terms of bone damage, now it's the rest of the shoulder that we've got to look at.
"We don't know, it could be two weeks, it could be 20. We'll find out today.
"We know he's not going to be available for round one."
Lycett's injury means former Kangaroo Petrie and ex-Cat Nathan Vardy are almost certain to be picked as West Coast's ruck duo for the round-one clash with North Melbourne.
Petrie and Vardy have been paired together for much of the pre-season, and Simpson has been pleased with their progress.
Petrie, a 316-game veteran, will have a point to prove against North Melbourne after being axed by the club at the end of last season.
But Petrie did his best to play down the clash.
"There'll be no mixed emotions," Petrie said.
"I'm here to win for the West Coast Eagles and do everything I can to make this year a successful one for the footy club."
Ruckman Jonathan Giles returned from a thumb injury on the weekend, but is considered only an outside chance to squeeze into the senior squad for the March 26 showdown with North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.
A bigger decision weighing on Simpson's mind surrounds the key defensive posts.
Jeremy McGovern is a lock for one of the spots, but it seems Eric Mackenzie and Tom Barrass are fighting it out for a berth.
Simpson floated the prospect of playing all three against opponents who boast bigger forward lines.
But for most games, West Coast are likely to go with just the two big men down back.
Barrass edged out Mackenzie for the second half of last season, with his awesome marking power seeing him widely touted as a future star.
But Mackenzie was preferred for last week's pre-season win over Melbourne, casting doubt on who Simpson will pick against the Kangaroos.
The Eagles are being tipped to finish inside the top-four despite the absence of star ruckman Nic Naitanui.
But Simpson isn't reading into what the betting markets are saying.
"Well, two weeks ago I would have thought people are saying we might drop out of the finals. It's pretty fickle the outside noise," Simpson said.
"For us, we want to play finals, we want to finish top four, and we want to win a premiership.
"But you've got to do the first one first. I've got a feeling there's 17 other sides saying the same thing."
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