West Coast winger Campbell Chesser has gone under the knife on a lingering ankle concern that has hindered his continuity at training this pre-season.
The 21-year-old played 18 games in 2024, kicking five goals and averaging 10.8 disposals and 1.8 inside 50s per game.
Chesser has struggled with consistency on the track since he arrived at Lathlain Park, suffering a severe ankle injury in his first practice match in 2022. The initial ankle damage has left Chesser under an injury cloud since, with just 32 appearances in his first three years at the club.
After another pre-season coming "in and out" of the main training program, Eagles general manager Gavin Bell spoke on SEN to confirm Chesser's next minor setback.
"(Chesser) had a small procedure done late yesterday afternoon and it's just trying to get him back so he can get as much footy in as he can this season," Bell said.
"It was only a minor procedure, but we just needed to give him the best chance to have a clean run.
"He's been coming in and out of training, and to set him up to play as much footy as he can this year, the decision was made over the weekend to get him in and to give him a bit of a clean and go from there.
"It's just a minor procedure, precautionary, to give him the best chance to have good backup or (ensure a) good season once he starts playing... They did a minor procedure just to give him the best chance to get some continuity."
The youngster enters a contract year in 2025, having signed a two-year extension on top of a one-year deal in 2022.
Star teammate Harley Reid has also endured an interrupted pre-season in his second year in the AFL system but is expected to build his workload from West Coast's intra-club match on Saturday in this week's pre-season match against North Melbourne.
Reid has spent time outside the main training program due to concussion and minor ankle soreness.
"We'd expect Harley to be playing this weekend," Bell said.
"He played near on three quarters on the weekend, so I'd suggest it's probably a progression build. We haven't sat down and mapped out any of the minutes or finalized the team, but Harley played well, showed some good things on our intra-club in front of the fans on on Saturday.
"He was all fine (after the game). I spoke to him yesterday, we understand he's into his second preseason and coming into his second year of AFL football.
"So he'll be constantly managed, as all our young guys will be, to make sure they're given the best chance to play over the season."
West Coast's Community Series clash takes place on Saturday, March 1 with the Eagles' opening match of the year dated for Sunday, March 16 against Gold Coast at home.
