Andrew Gaff admits West Coast’s remodelled midfield is still a work in progress as the Eagles prepare to unleash a near-full strength side in Saturday night’s preseason derby against Fremantle.
But the star wingman is confident an engine room boosted by the arrival of Tim Kelly and Nic Naitanui’s return to full fitness will be ready to hit the ground running against Melbourne in round one.
West Coast get a final chance to tune up for their premiership tilt when they take on the Dockers at HBF Arena, with Gaff and fellow midfielder Elliot Yeo set to be among the key inclusions.
Defender Brad Sheppard is also poised to return after the trio missed last week’s preseason defeat to Essendon to play in the AFL’s bushfire relief representative match.
“We need to figure out a few things and we’ve spoken about it all,” Gaff said.
“But it’s one thing to speak about how the midfield is all going to work, the next thing is to put it in place because there’s not long until round one.
“We’ve been working through everything since last year finished and once we found out we got Tim (during the October trade period).”
Gaff is excited about the prospect of adding Kelly to the mix after the former Geelong on-baller finished fifth in last year’s Brownlow Medal count.
“He kicks goals as well and we’ve got a lot of guys that have different strengths and we can all work really well together,” Gaff said.
“It will be a pretty formidable midfield when we’re all playing well.”
Last year, West Coast were thrashed by Brisbane in the opening round and lost three of their first six games as reigning premiers by margins of more than 40 points.
Gaff said a better start was crucial to their flag ambitions this season.
“We need to hit the ground running because we were a little bit sloppy last year,” he said.
“When you drop four points here and there it could be the difference between missing out on a spot, whether it’s in the eight or top four, which we found out in round 23 last year.
“The hunger’s definitely high.”