Hurn and McKinley sustained knocks in the club’s NAB Challenge clash with Carlton last week and have been rested, along with captain Darren Glass and Quinten Lynch, for the trip to Melbourne’s Casey Fields to take on the Demons.
Burns said they would be certain starters when the Eagles launch their season against the Brisbane Lions on March 27.
“[McKinley] and Shannon Hurn have got a few little niggles, which if we were playing a home and away season game, they’d just about play this week,” Burns said from Subiaco Oval on Thursday.
“They’d definitely play the week after. But when you’ve got a week off after this game against Melbourne, it’s best to just take it easy and make sure they’re right for round one.
“I know they’re not serious (injuries).”
Burns said Glass had completed a flawless pre-season and, with the captain required to fly to Melbourne next week for the AFL season launch, he would be granted a weekend off to freshen up.
West Coast has recalled ruckman Dean Cox and star midfielders Daniel Kerr and Matt Priddis, and Burns said the trio’s game time would be assessed throughout Saturday’s clash.
Kerr (calf) and Priddis (knee) haven’t played since the NAB Cup opener on February 12, but Burns said the pair had done plenty of match conditioning away from the pre-season games.
“We do a lot of match simulation at training, so they’ve been getting plenty of tackles and knocks and things like that,” he said.
“And they’re experienced players, so they’ve got a lot of good pre-seasons behind them and they know their bodies better than anyone.
“Kerry’s been doing a lot of work, so he’s probably right to go, (and) Pridda’s only really missed a few weeks out of the pre-season.
“Blokes like Beau (Waters) and Coxy, we want to be a little bit careful and [not] give them a great deal of game time.”
West Coast will travel a full NAB Challenge side, taking advantage of all eight interchange spots, and Burns said the clash would be a good opportunity to give some more young players a taste of AFL football.
Strong-bodied recruit Koby Stevens impressed the midfield coach with his performance against Carlton, and Burns said he was pleased to give the 18-year-old another run against the Dees.
“I think in the game last week, (with) the few things he did, he just looks like a footballer,” Burns said.
“He’s had a little bit of a limited preparation as well, so we’ll just give him another sniff at it.
“He’s going to put more pressure on the guys as the year progresses.”
Luke Shuey, Tom Swift and Patrick McGinnity have also been impressive this pre-season, and Burns said there would continue to be pressure for midfield spots.
“With the young fellas, there could be three to four spots for five to six guys, and in all honesty if we could play them all for 16-18 games, it might not be a bad step in,” he said.
“They don’t necessarily have to play 22 games. We’ve got to monitor a lot of the younger blokes with their workload.”
