Eagles facing nervous wait on AFL stars

West Coast face a major fight to retain Andrew Gaff and Scott Lycett beyond this year, with the pair offered huge deals to join rival clubs.

AFL

Andrew Gaff, who missed the Eagles' finals run through suspension, will decide on his future soon. (AAP)

The prospect of back-to-back AFL flags is already on the minds of some West Coast players, but will Andrew Gaff, Scott Lycett, and Mark LeCras be part of the premiership charge?

More than 40,000 Eagles fans welcomed back their premiership heroes at Perth's Langley Park on Sunday.

Players were nursing sore heads and croaky voices, with the partying set to continue this week.

But behind the scenes West Coast's hierarchy are already facing a defining period to ensure the club's 2019 flag hopes don't get off to a rocky start.

The Eagles face a major fight to retain free agents Gaff and Lycett.

Gaff has been offered a 'godfather' deal by North Melbourne, while Lycett is rumoured to be on the verge of joining Port Adelaide on a lucrative deal.

Veteran LeCras, who at 32 years of age is the oldest player in the team, is yet to make a call on whether he will continue.

All three players loom as crucial cogs in West Coast's 2019 flag tilt - especially Lycett and Gaff.

With Nic Naitanui (knee) no guarantee to return in 2019, Lycett's defection would leave a major hole in West Coast's ruck stocks.

The Eagles have already met with GWS big man Rory Lobb as a possible replacement, while St Kilda's Tom Hickey and Western Bulldogs free agent Jordan Roughead are other options West Coast have looked into.

Gaff paid the ultimate price for his punch on Andrew Brayshaw in the round 20 western derby, with his eight-week suspension ruling him out of the grand final.

The 26-year-old Victorian could make an announcement about his future as early as this week.

LeCras is expected to undergo surgery on the arm he injured earlier this season.

If the prognosis is good, the 219-game veteran is expected to play on next season.

Fellow forward Josh Kennedy said it was special sharing the grand final win with LeCras.

"Once that siren sounded I closed my eyes and screamed real loud and I thought, 'Where's Lecca?'," Kennedy said.

"And I opened my eyes and Lecca spear-tackled me to the ground, and we pretty much did everything but kiss on that footy oval. So it was quite a special moment."

West Coast hold their best-and-fairest award on Friday night, with Gaff, skipper Shannon Hurn, midfielder Elliot Yeo, defender Jeremy McGovern, Jack Redden, and Brad Sheppard all expected to poll well.


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Source: AAP


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