LOSING star forward Josh Kennedy will hurt West Coast but the spearhead's injury lay-off won't be used as an excuse as the Eagles bid to keep their season on track, according to veteran Sam Mitchell.
The Eagles are bracing for an update on Kennedy after he heard a pop when he collapsed to the ground with a calf injury during the final quarter of Sunday's gripping loss to Greater Western Sydney.
The dual Coleman medallist – and the AFL's leading goalkicker this season with 34 majors – was on crutches post-match and appears certain to miss the trip to face Gold Coast this Saturday.
"Obviously, he's an important player, great player, so we'll miss him for however long that is," Mitchell said.
"Best-case scenario is probably one week, isn't it? We've got a bye after that.
"I don't think (Kennedy's absence) will affect the (team's) mindset too much.
"We're still going to have 22 blokes in a West Coast Eagles jumper run out there and try to get the job done this week against the Suns.
"Having him obviously would help us, but we look at GWS on the weekend – they had half of their arguable best team missing and they're still playing some pretty impressive footy.
"I think this footy club has gone past relying on one or two players."
West Coast has options to replace Kennedy, including ex-North Melbourne forward Drew Petrie and strong-marking star Jeremy McGovern.
Besides losing their gun goalkicker, the Eagles have other worries, especially in midfield where they have been soundly beaten at stoppages in their past two defeats.
Essendon controlled centre clearances 18-10 in round nine, while the Giants – led by behemoth Shane Mumford – dominated clearances 54-31 as they notched a maiden triumph over West Coast.
"I think when you lose your stoppage count by 21 it makes it pretty tough to win the game," Mitchell said.
"Clearly 'Mummy' had a good game, but I didn't think it was the rucks that was the sole issue – as a midfield group we got well and truly beaten.
"We'll have to have a look to see if there's some themes and see if there's some patterns.
"We tried a lot of things to get going. We haven't succeeded in the last two weeks.
"We need to at least break even in that area."
Mitchell praised Lewis Jetta for his hard work behind the scenes after his best game as an Eagle with 28 touches and two goals against the Giants.
Jetta offered West Coast's midfield a different dimension with his class and pace – invaluable in club champion Luke Shuey's (calf) absence.
Shuey and sharpshooter Mark LeCras (hip) could be available for the trip to Gold Coast.
Mitchell revealed the club would continue to look at its travel plans with three of West Coast's four losses coming on the road.
"Nothing's been confirmed yet but we are looking at the way we travel and everything about that," he said.
"That's food, the hotel, the time of day we travel, who travels when, the staff that come over, all those little things that perhaps make a difference.
"We want to improve our record – I think we're 2-3 on the road this year – we'd like to be ahead of the ledger by the end of the year."
