Vax-hesitant AFL star in the mix for round 2

West Coast needs their stars back as soon as possible and a vax-hesitant key forward could be among the round 2 inclusions.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson says the Eagles won’t be living in a hub. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Jack Darling could be back in the West Coast line-up for its round 2 clash against North Melbourne.

Darling, who didn’t train with his teammates for most of the pre-season after failing to meet the AFL’s Covid-19 protocols, is one of five experienced players in line for a recall to the Eagles side that lost to the Gold Coast Suns by 27 points at Optus Stadium on Sunday.

The Eagles had 16 players unavailable for the game against the Gold Coast, including 11 who would be considered likely starters in the club’s first 22.

Tim Kelly and Liam Ryan are due to return after being sidelined for Covid-19 health protocols, Alex Witherden missed Sunday’s game through suspension, while Luke Shuey is expected to overcome his hamstring injury in time to meet the Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.

Darling joined training just before the season started but suffered a foot injury in the lead-up to round 1 and missed the game against the Suns.

Coach Adam Simpson said Darling was fit, but the Eagles wouldn’t risk him if there was a risk.

“We’ll work through … he’s super fit,” Simpson said.

“He only missed a few sessions with it.

The Eagles desperately need Jack Darling. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

“It’s how he feels. We had a bit of a match sim with the WAFL Eagles on the weekend and he kicked about 10 goals, so he looked OK. But it was three 12-minute sort of quarters.

“So, we’ll see how he goes, see how he pulls up.

“We won’t rush him. If he’s right, he’s right. If he’s not, he won’t play.”

In Darling’s absence, the Eagles found nine goal kickers against the Suns, with Josh Kennedy, Jamaine Jones and Jack Petruccelle each kicking two.

But they took only nine marks from 42 inside 50 entries and kicked 12.8 for the game.

The inclusions of Shuey and Kelly would be a massive help to a midfield that lost the clearance battle against the Suns.

Touk Miller, Matt Rowell, Jarrod Witts and Brayden Fiorini helped the Gold Coast finish with an advantage in clearances, winning the centre clearance battle 16-12.

Jack Redden was the only regular centre-bounce player available for West Coast and had assistance from Willie Rioli, Andrew Gaff and Jones.

As the Eagles try to get their best team on the ground, Simpson said staying away from Covid-19 remained an issue.

Tim Kelly should return for West Coast. Picture: Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images

While Western Australia is recording several thousand positive cases each day and some modelling has this number peaking in the next week or two, Simpson said moving to Melbourne and living in a hub was not being considered.

“I don’t look at the numbers every day, but there’s a fair few numbers in Victoria as well, and with the freedom they have at the moment, that would be a challenge as well,” he said.

“We don’t want to go to Victoria and stay in a bubble all week.

“We’ve got to be careful, we’ve got to do the right thing; we have been doing the right thing.

“We’ve managed it really well. We lost a couple of players for tonight unfortunately.

“There might be some cases, so we’ve got to deal with that and do what’s right for us and the players, but at this stage I don’t think we’ll be doing that.”