While Cross, 25, said the seven-time best and fairest winner will be sorely missed for the next two weeks while he nurses a knee injury, players such as Ryan Griffen, Adam Cooney, Matthew Boyd and himself will be able account for the loss.
"Westy has been our main midfielder for 14, 15 years, so I would say it's going to be extremely tough," he said.
"He's our best ball-winner, so it's going to be up to myself and the younger guys in ‘Griff’ and ‘Coons" and ‘Boydy’ to pick up the slack.
"He'll be well missed but hopefully it's only for one or two weeks."
Cross said the reality of football means the playing group will have to get used to West's absence sooner rather than later, with the champion player nearing the end of his career at the age of 33.
"He's not going to be here forever, and we've seen ‘Granty’ (Chris Grant), ‘Darc’ (Luke Darcy) and ‘Smithy’ (Rohan Smith) in the last few years leave," he said.
"They're big gaps to fill and he's not going to be here forever, so it's going to give us a good indication of how we can go without Scotty directing us around and take a bit of leadership ourselves."
Teammate Mitch Hahn forecast a speedy clash with Essendon this Friday night that could evolve into a shoot-out, considering the free-wheeling and high-scoring nature of both sides.
"Four weeks ago when we played them, we found out how good they are and how much they can run and how fast they are," Hahn said.
"That's something we've got to take into consideration. We've got our team meeting later today and I'm sure that Rodney will have some plans in place to try and stop their run.
"It's going to be a tough game, but their game is a running game, pretty similar to ours.
"We're going to have to find ways and different avenues of trying to stop their run. They've got great players in Matthew Lloyd who they like to use, and Adam McPhee is playing a great lead-up role down there, and Mark McVeigh is having a great season as well."
Hahn, 26, was back to his best last weekend against the Saints after largely spending last year recuperating from the knee reconstruction that ruined his 2006 season.
He returned to the field in round seven and struggled to hold his form before a shoulder injury ended his year six weeks early.
"It's great to be back. I haven't played a final yet, so I'm working hard," he said.
"It's only three games in and I've still got a long way to go, but it's been a great start to the season and it's great to be able to get back out there."
