West Coast coach Adam Simpson is confident Nic Naitanui won't require surgery to fix his ongoing Achilles tendon injury, but the star big man is still at least several weeks away from making an AFL return.
Naitanui struggled with Achilles soreness during the pre-season and he will miss a third straight game when the Eagles take on Fremantle in Sunday's western derby.
No timeline has been set for Naitanui's return with the Eagles meeting medical staff on Friday to determine the best course of action.
"I don't think surgery is part of the conversation," Simpson told reporters on Friday morning.
"I think he'll play this year but I can't comment (on when) until I get the full details. We'll release something when the time is right, but he won't be playing for a few weeks."
The absence of Naitanui has left West Coast lacking firepower in the ruck department.
The 201cm Bailey Williams is leading the ruck division while Naitanui is sidelined and 192cm forward Jake Waterman was his back-up in last week's win over GWS.
The duo are set to be severely tested on Sunday when they confront star Fremantle pair Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson.
"It's probably the biggest challenge in the AFL. They're No.1 for hitouts," Simpson said.
West Coast premiership midfielder Elliot Yeo will miss another game with a calf injury, but he's a chance to return for next week's encounter with Melbourne at Optus Stadium.
Fremantle star Nat Fyfe (plantar fasciitis) fell just short in proving his fitness in time for the derby and it's an injury he might need to manage for the rest of the season.
"He was close. He trained all of the session yesterday," Longmuir said.
"It just probably hasn't come along as well as we needed.
"It's improved but we thought the extra week would make a fair bit of difference.
"I think it's going to be a week by week thing. It can come good pretty quick and it might hang around a little bit longer than we expect.
"It's a hard injury to put a time frame on."
Longmuir is hopeful Fyfe will be ready to return for next week's clash with Adelaide.
