West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui is proving to be a disruption at training, and Eagles players couldn't be happier.
Naitanui returned to full training duties on Wednesday - less than 10 months after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
The 29-year-old is on track to return to playing duties after the club's round-13 AFL bye, and is already proving to be a handful for teammates at training.
"Nic trained today, a full training session, and he looked pretty good," Eagles coach Adam Simpson said.
"He was in the opposition side and we did a little match sim, so he's disrupting a lot already, which is great for us.
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"It looks like the normal Nic at the moment. I'm sure he'll build his confidence in the next month or so."
Simpson's immediate focus is figuring out West Coast's best ruck strategy while Naitanui is still sidelined.
West Coast started the season employing both Tom Hickey and Nathan Vardy in the same side, but opposition teams started to expose that and Simpson has opted for just a single ruckman in the past two games.
Although Hickey has performed well this season, Vardy has struggled.
Vardy tallied just four disposals as the sole recognised ruckman during last week's 23-point win over Gold Coast.
In six games this season, Vardy's highest possession tally is just 10.
The premiership ruckman is set to be edged out of the side for Saturday night's clash with St Kilda if Hickey recovers from the minor hamstring injury that ruled him out last week.
However, Simpson is also aware that he can't afford to burn out young forward Oscar Allen, who has been the team's pinch-hitting ruckman over the past fortnight.
Simpson could opt to play both Vardy and Hickey together against the Saints in order to give Allen a rest.
"A 20-year-old who has never rucked before, trying to get him through the season, is that the best thing for him?" Simpson said of Allen's rucking.
"They're the things we will discuss at match committee. We are still trying to work through what the best look is for us.
"One thing that we do like to be is settled, and have the right roles and right balance for our side."
