STAR forward Josh Kennedy is adamant he will be back for West Coast's first final and insists he can get through the Eagles' entire September campaign.
Kennedy will be sidelined for his fifth consecutive game when his teammates fly to Brisbane and attempt to lock away second spot on Sunday.
The dual Coleman medallist only took part in some low-intensity skills work at Subiaco Oval on Tuesday and continues to be troubled by a hairline fracture in his right kicking leg.
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"We were thinking about pushing for it (against Brisbane), but last week they (medical staff) pulled the pin," Kennedy told 6PR radio.
"We were still unsure with JD (Jack Darling) going down and some things that were happening this week, but I think we're just going to leave it until the first final, which is not ideal.
"I would have liked to have played a game before finals, because finals are pretty intense.
"I've just got to make sure I get myself ready to go for that first final.
"I'll be able to get through three or four games, whatever it is, we're just giving it enough time to settle.
"Because it was bone, we've just given it an extra couple of weeks to settle down."
The Eagles have decided against bringing Kennedy back via East Perth if the Royals qualify for a WAFL final next weekend.
"Our (West Coast qualifying) final is going to be on a Thursday or Friday night … so it's probably too late to play next weekend as well," he said.
"We've got training and match simulation to get prepared for it.
"As I haven't been able to do much running over the last couple of weeks we've had a lot of things in place to try to keep the judgement of the footy and touch up to the level that is hopefully going to be good enough for finals."
While Kennedy has been ruled out, the Eagles are hopeful Darling will overcome concussion ahead of the trip to Queensland.
Darling, the club's leading goalkicker with 38 majors, was on light duties on Tuesday but made an appearance on the training track and completed some running.
"He's recovered quite well, as good as can be expected," football boss Craig Vozzo said.
"He will do a fair bit more on Thursday and then go through the normal concussion protocol.
"We've got our fingers crossed that he'll be available to play."
Versatile defender Will Schofield (hamstring) is also tipped to put his hand up after two games on the sidelines.
