WEST Coast's premiership hopes were supposedly dashed with the season-ending knee injury to Nic Naitanui, but Scott Lycett might have something to say about that.
The 23-year-old was the third-highest scorer in the Schick AFL Player Ratings in round 22, behind only Geelong midfielder Sam Menegola and North Melbourne star Daniel Wells.
His effort came after Naitanui went down in the dying minutes of the third term against Hawthorn last Friday night.
Lycett picked up 16 disposals, 12 contested possessions and 22 hit-outs on Friday night. The Hawks also lost their big man with Jonathon Ceglar rupturing his ACL minutes before Naitanui.
That performance from Lycett was more remarkable considering his game against Greater Western Sydney in the week prior. He had just two disposals in that match, while Naitanui snapped the match-winning goal in the final few seconds of the game.
Throughout his career, the South Australian product has been relatively unremarkable in relation to the competition's other ruckmen. He wins hit-outs at 40 per cent of his stoppages, while the AFL average is 39 per cent. His hit-out to advantage ratio is almost identical to the rest of the competition, at about 10 per cent.
The one thing Lycett does particularly well is tackling. Of the ruckmen who have lined up in more than 10 matches this season, Lycett is fourth for tackles.
It might be a bit much to ask Lycett to match some of Naitanui's brilliant feats, but if Lycett can replicate the form he did against the three-time reigning premiers last Friday, there might be life left yet in the Eagles' premiership campaign.