MARK Hutchings doesn't overthink his run-with roles, but the West Coast tagger might be burying his head in a laptop doing his homework before Saturday night's semi-final with Greater Western Sydney.

The last time the Eagles travelled to face the Giants in round 22, Hutchings got to work studying Dylan Shiel's traits.

Hutchings did his job, restricting the damaging Giant to 21 touches and a goal, but dynamic teammate Josh Kelly got off the chain, racking up 43 disposals and breaking West Coast's resistance with a late major in the 21-point victory.

In last Saturday night's epic elimination final, Hutchings wasn't assigned a shutdown role, and coach Adam Simpson has to mull over whether employing a stopper detracts too much from West Coast's midfield run.

But if he does set Hutchings a task, he will be ready.

"Last time I was on Shiel and we did lose the game, and we didn't do anything (tagging) on the weekend (and won)," Hutchings told AFL.com.au.

"It's different every week. It might just be 'go out and play' again.

"I haven't looked at too much vision of Kelly, but if that's what they want me to do, I'll have to do my homework on him.

"I like to leave it until later in the week, just so I can have my own head early in the week and recover and prepare myself before I get too into the nitty-gritty of it."

While all the talk is about the Giants' explosive midfield, the Eagles boast some wily veterans.

Brownlow medallists Sam Mitchell and Matt Priddis were vital around stoppages against Port, and are refusing to slip quietly into retirement.

Fellow leaders Luke Shuey and Andrew Gaff were also prolific, with Shuey's efforts throughout extra time overshadowed by his unforgettable after-the-siren goal.

"They've got a lot of midfielders that can win them the game, a lot of strengths inside and outside," Hutchings said.

"It comes down to how we want to play as well, how our midfield needs to perform and get it forward so we can kick a score.

"They've got threats everywhere, but we have to do it our way. We've got enough experience out there with Priddis, Mitchell and the class of Shuey as well."

The Eagles jetted out to Sydney on Thursday afternoon, their third journey across the Nullarbor in seven days.

Despite the tough back-to-back travel, Hutchings said a lighter training week and extra sleep would have West Coast primed for action on Saturday night.

"It's the business end of the year, we're narrowing our focus onto football and a lot of other things in our lives are irrelevant at the moment," he said.

"Those things can fall by the wayside a little bit, and we're focused on what we need to do."