AS SPYING missions go, it was hardly James Bond.

Half a dozen Brisbane Lions officials, including coach Leigh Matthews, rolled up to Subiaco Oval in a white panel van to take in West Coast's final AFL training session on Friday.

Behind a goal in club colours, Matthews and his team were neither subtle nor secretive in getting some last minute information about how the self proclaimed "new breed" of Eagles might line up in their AFL opener on Saturday.

And having watched the home side's gentle Good Friday run through, Matthews said there were a couple of things which did catch his eye.

"A couple of them looked a little bit uncertain, but I guess you will never know until 40 minutes before the game whether their 22 is as selected," Matthews said.

"If it is not then we will know then."

The Lions' intelligence mission came after last week's AFL Coaches Association meeting, where the issue of whether to spy or not to spy was debated.

Association chief executive Neale Daniher announced that after a "competitive" discussion, the gloves were off after coaches agreed not to agree to institute a formal 'spying' policy.

And so after taking his place in the Subiaco stands, Matthews said he was doing nothing untoward.

"No (we didn't ask permission) - we just turned up," Matthews said.

What Matthews would have seen was Daniel Kerr taking part in training but at nowhere near full pace, after being named to play his first game since tearing a hamstring six weeks ago.

Matthews said he was not sure whether the Eagles' new number-one midfielder was 100 per cent.

"Sometimes you look at people train and think are they normal, are they physically and mentally normal?" Matthews said.

"I am not positive whether he looked in that manner."

But assistant Eagles coach Tony Micale, speaking before his side's session, said he had no doubts.

"He definitely is (100 per cent) ... we are really confident he is fine and we will get through," Micale said.

"There is no intention to do anything different with him at this stage. Daniel is a very resilient player and he has got a big heart, so we will weigh it up as the game progresses."

With West Coast returning the favour to the Lions, sending a posse of their coaches to watch Lions training, they would have seen key forward Jonathan Brown leave the track early.

Micale admitted Brown had to be a priority, with new Eagles skipper Darren Glass his likely opponent.

"Any side that boasts Jonathan Brown in it is always dangerous, he is a key player for them and that is something we need to focus on pretty heavily," Micale said.

And if Kerr was to drop out late, Micale said any of the Eagles emergencies named - Chris Masten, Jamie McNamara or Scott Selwood - could come in alongside some more experienced colleagues.

"They are all on the brink and keen to win a position, there is good competition on for spots in the side," Micale said.

"The majority of the other players have been around for some time now, and a lot of them have played in two grand finals."

If the younger Selwood were to play that would make three brothers playing on the same AFL field, with Adam already an established Eagle and Troy in the Brisbane ranks.