WEST Coast won't wrap veteran Sam Mitchell in cotton wool and rest him for Saturday's clash with Richmond, despite the five-day break leading into another crunch game against the Sydney Swans in round four.
Eagles coach Adam Simpson confirmed on Thursday that speedster Lewis Jetta will return after missing last week's win over St Kilda with a glute scare, with Dom Sheed missing out after a quiet performance against the Saints.
But the Eagles are reluctant to start managing Mitchell so early in the season, and Simpson was confident the 34-year-old could travel to Melbourne to face the Tigers and then back it up by taking on the Swans at home next Thursday night.
"To say that we're going to rest guys and preempt that they're going to be sore and can't come up, it's a bit early in the year to do that," Simpson said.
"We're a bit reluctant to strategise the season like that with Sam and some other players who are a little bit older.
"It's more about how we see them pulling up, if they pull up well, see how they go. If they don't, we'll manage them.
"It's about their maturity as well, and being honest about how they're feeling before the game.
"He's (not) the type of player that I see limping around two or three days after a game, but you just don't know."
Simpson admitted the Eagles have been "leaning on" ex-Hawthorn champion Mitchell's MCG experience, but they won't "get caught up" in changing the way they want to play on the wider ground.
Jetta returns for team balance after picking up 19 touches and taking eight marks for East Perth last Saturday, having been left out of the Eagles' line-up due to concerns over a sore glute.
Emerging defender Tom Barrass holds his spot ahead of Eric Mackenzie after a strong aerial display against the Saints.
While the Eagles escaped with a last-gasp win over St Kilda to stay undefeated after two rounds, Simpson has concerns about their slow starts and defensive issues.
West Coast trailed both North Melbourne and St Kilda at quarter-time, and had to rely on greater firepower to get over the line.
"We've been pleased overall, but there's some work to do with our starts and our defensive actions we've been looking at and tinkering with," Simpson said.
Richmond is also searching to continue its unbeaten record, and has been buoyed by the news that star Dustin Martin will play despite fracturing his cheekbone last round.
"Whoever plays on him is going to have to be pretty flexible because he's probably the best one-on-one player I would have thought – the last couple of years – in the comp," Simpson said. "That's when he goes forward and on the ball.
"I'm not sure if he's going to wear a helmet or not, but if he's right to play he's right to play.
"We won't be targeting his head."
Meanwhile, Simpson downplayed the furore over West Coast dominating the free-kick count 23-8 at home last week.
"The umpires are doing the best they can. The environment we create over here, we love the passion of our supporters,' he said.
"I can't wait for the Perth Stadium and the extra 25,000 doing the same thing, no one might get a free kick if they travel over here.
"But when you travel it's the opposite. The rub of the green for us goes the (other) way when we travel, so I think we've just got to get on with it."
