West Coast have suffered a major blow with influential ruckman Nic Naitanui set to miss up to eight weeks as a result of Achilles surgery.
Naitanui had been playing through the injury but it worsened during West Coast's round 11 match against the Western Bulldogs and he was noticeably sore during their round 12 loss to Adelaide, where he struggled to get through the game.
The decision to send him for surgery fell to the West Coast medical staff, who had previously been managing his workload.
West Coast Eagles' football manager Craig Vozzo told the club website that after considering all of the options the proposed minor surgery would provide the best outcome for Naitanui.
"Despite managing his training load and taking a conservative approach to his preparation and game time, the injury has not improved," Vozzo said.
"He is quite sore after games, even after keeping his weight off his legs last week, and after our medical staff considered all of the available options, we decided that the minor surgery was in Nic's best long-term interests."
With Naitanui out of the side the bulk of the ruck responsibilities will likely fall to Scott Lycett.
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