INJURIES and illness are no excuse for West Coast's woeful performance against Geelong on Saturday night, according to Sharrod Wellingham.
The Eagles travelled without captain Darren Glass (hip soreness), Shannon Hurn (knee), Mark LeCras (forearm), Chris Masten (hamstring), and Luke Shuey (suspension). They also lost Matt Rosa pre-match to illness and Nic Naitanui during the game to soreness.
But Wellingham believes the side's effort wasn't good enough in the 75-point loss to the Cats.
"We had 22 blokes out there on the night but we weren't up for it," Wellingham said.
"We got beaten on the inside, we got beaten on the outside."
Wellingham said he didn't believe the absence of so many key players was behind West Coast's first loss of the season.
"Boys are going to go down throughout the year," Wellingham said.
"That just happens in footy, whether it's through injury or suspension, which we've already encountered, and we've got to have the depth and confidence in the blokes who come in that they're going to play their role.
"We've got 22 blokes out there whenever we play. We don't think about who is missing, it's just who we've got out there."
The Eagles could get a number of players back this week to face a rampaging Port Adelaide outfit on Saturday night at Patersons Stadium.
Wellingham believes Shuey, Glass and Rosa will all return, with Masten also in the frame to make a quicker-than-expected recovery from his hamstring issue.
He was also confident that Nic Naitanui would play this week despite the 2012 All Australian being subbed off during the third term with what coach Adam Simpson described as "a bit of soreness".
Naitanui had just six possessions and six hit-outs before he was subbed.
The star ruckman received treatment to his right foot while on the bench after he was subbed but Wellingham said he wasn't injured, and that any doubts surrounding Naitanui's form were off the mark.
"I know that he was just a little bit sore," Wellingham said.
"He was All Australian only a year ago.
"He had a tough year last year and we're only four games into the season.
"Nic might come out and absolutely destroy the game this week."
