WEST Coast star forward Josh Kennedy thinks he may be available to play this week, but surgery on his right elbow remains a possibility.
Kennedy injured his right elbow during the second term of the Eagles' 87-point over Greater Western Sydney at Domain Stadium on Saturday night.
He came from the ground in obvious pain before heading to the rooms for treatment.
Kennedy returned in the second half to kick four goals to finish with six and extend his lead in the Coleman Medal race. He also polled 10 votes in the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award for the second time this season.
Kennedy was absent from the Eagles' light recovery session at Domain Stadium on Monday and he told 6PR on Tuesday morning that he was in limbo as he waited to consult the medical staff.
"I'm just waiting to hear back today," Kennedy said.
"We're looking at the scans. We'll make an assessment today. But coming back on in that last half was pretty encouraging so I'm pretty sure I'll be available this week."
Kennedy said the medical staff were assessing whether he could do any further damage to the elbow.
If so, he may require surgery.
"If there is a risk of doing more damage to it then that's the option we have got to decide on, whether to go in or not," Kennedy said.
"I don't know too much until I get the opinion today, so I've kind of been up in the air.
"I'll go in and do a bit of a run this morning and do the normal program with meetings and then find out around lunch time."
Eagles coach Adam Simpson told 6PR on Monday night he was hopeful his star forward would not require surgery.
"He's an important part of our team and sometimes we probably rely on him too much to get the job done," Simpson said.
"Fingers are crossed that there's no surgery required and hopefully the damage is on the lighter end."
If Kennedy were to miss weeks it would be yet another blow to the Eagles' big man stocks. The Eagles have already lost key defenders Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown to knee reconstructions and key forward Jack Darling has only just returned to full training after missing the pre-season with a stress fracture in his foot.
"I haven't come across it in my time, the spate of injuries we've had to talls," Simpson said.
"But that just presents an opportunity and you’ve got to find a way."
Simpson said up-to four players "tweaked" their ankles on the weekend, including Will Schofield and Luke Shuey. However all were walking around without issue at recovery on Monday.
Simpson said Kennedy was the only concern ahead of a trip to Adelaide to face Port Adelaide on Sunday.
The coach was hopeful Matt Rosa would return after missing last week with a back issue.
"We've got to test out Matty Rosa and see how he's travelling with his tight back and see if it's worth the trip and see if we can get him up," Simpson said.
"Mark Hutchings and (Brant) Colledge performed pretty well at East Perth on the weekend and we also rested Jackson Nelson so there's a few guys waiting in the wings.
"It is hard to make changes when you have a good victory like we did on the weekend but we'll see what kind of match-ups we have and we'll have some good selection discussions this week at match committee."
