Embley was too sick to fly to Sydney and was ruled out of Saturday night's clash at ANZ Stadium.
The 26-year-old's absence means there will be a huge turnover of personnel from the side that lost to Fremantle last week.
Injured duo Matt Priddis (knee) and David Wirrpanda (hamstring) were ruled out earlier in the week while premiership midfielder Chad Fletcher was dropped along with Mark Nicoski and youngster Brad Ebert.
A cloud also remains over All-Australian ruckman Dean Cox, who injured his foot in an accidental collision with Wirrpanda in the Western Derby loss.
Defender Matt Spangher, the 34th selection in the 2005 NAB AFL Draft, will play his first game of AFL football - becoming the fourth West Coast Eagle to debut in 2008.
Steven Armstrong, Jamie McNamara, Matt Rosa and young gun Chris Masten have also come into the side.
The struggling Eagles, 13th on the ladder with a 1-2 (win-loss) start, can bring in one of their three emergencies - Ebert, Josh Kennedy or Nicoski - to replace Embley.
