THE TIME has come for West Coast to find some midfield depth, coach Adam Simpson says.
The Eagles have suffered significant injuries to key midfielders this season. Scott Selwood carried a serious ankle injury for eight weeks before finally requiring surgery. Elliot Yeo was pushed through the midfield mid-year before breaking his hand against Gold Coast, and now veteran Matt Rosa has been ruled out for the season with a torn pectoral tendon.
The Eagles midfield was well beaten by the Sydney Swans on Sunday in the wet, leaving Luke Shuey to declare the Swans certain grand finalists on the back of their midfield depth.
The Eagles are almost certain to miss September action and while Simpson has not given up on finals completely, he told 6PR on Monday night that now was the time to explore the list.
"We need to start looking at really developing our list and our squad," Simpson said.
"I’ve got to see some of these players play at senior level to see if they can cut the mustard. While we do that, I want to win. We still want to win games.
"The fact is we're exploring different players through the midfield.
"There's some areas we need to improve in, there's no doubt.
"The teams who are at the top end of the table have got elite midfielders and share the load, so much so that they've got midfielders playing as high half-forwards, and at the moment we're probably not that deep."
The timing would have been perfect for young midfielder Brant Colledge to get an opportunity however the 19-year-old suffered an ankle injury playing for East Perth on Saturday and will miss up to a month.
Simpson said Dom Sheed, the Eagles' first round draft pick from last year, will be in the mix this week to play against the Brisbane Lions. Sheed played four of the first six matches this season, three as the substitute, but has spent the rest of the season in the WAFL. He gathered 25 disposals, took 11 marks, and kicked 2.2 in East Perth's 63-point win over Peel Thunder on Saturday.
"Dom played a few games earlier on in the year and he's still trying to find that consistency that you look for when you're a teenager and he's found that the last few weeks so he's definitely in the mix this week," Simpson said.
Small defender Jamie Bennell is also in the mix after he was dropped last week for the first time this season.
"He had played every game so far this season until last week," Simpson said.
"He just fell away in a few areas that are non negotiable and when you do that you can't play. I had an honest chat with him and he had a few things to work on back at East Perth. He's gone back and done that. So we'll see how he looks this week."
