WEST Coast may have to pick every available player on its list just to name a squad of 26 for Saturday's clash against Richmond, putting it in an extremely delicate position in the build-up to round eight.
The Eagles are unable to train in a normal capacity as they manage a staggering unavailability list that includes 17 injured players as well as suspended forward Samo Petrevski-Seton, who has accepted a one-match ban for rough conduct.
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Young defender Rhett Bazzo, who was used as the substitute against Carlton, joined the injury list on Saturday night after entering concussion protocols following a head knock against the Blues.
Premiership midfielder Dom Sheed is the only player likely to come off the injury list this week, potentially giving the club 27 players to choose from ahead of a trip to the MCG.
If Sheed doesn't come up, the Eagles will be forced to name every fit player it has left just to fulfil the AFL requirement to name a squad of 22 plus four emergencies.
All 26 of the Eagles' fit players took part in a light training session on Monday, as well as five from the injury list, including Sheed.
The club will likely call on midfielder Zane Trew to join the 22 against the Tigers, leaving first-year ruck Harry Barnett, fellow big man Callum Jamieson, and category B rookies Jordyn Baker and Tyrell Dewar as emergencies.
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Barnett, Baker and Dewar are yet to debut, while Jamieson returned to the WAFL at the weekend after recovering from an ankle injury.
"There isn't a lot coming back in the next three or four weeks, so we've just got to stay resilient," coach Adam Simpson said after the 108-point loss to Carlton, the second heaviest in his time with West Coast.
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"We've got 26 training. It's not an excuse. But we can't do anything outside of the fundamentals. We're working on our running.
"We'll keep doing that, because we won't have much back next week. But that's not an excuse."
The Eagles chose not to pull any of their available troops out of the WAFL on Sunday to avoid the risk of injury, deciding that match practice and regaining fitness was more important for those young players.
Simpson said seeking AFL support for its list issues was not on the club's agenda.
"That's on us. It's on us. We have been knocked around a bit the last couple of years, but we own that," the coach said.
"That's the way it is. We'll keep working through it and we're not asking for anything.
"We were really disappointing and we want to get better. That just means we need to get back to work."
The option to add new players to the list in the mid-season draft this month is not possible for the Eagles given they don't have any vacant list spots.
