LIKELY early draft pick Sam Durdin will make his return from injury to play for West Adelaide in the Foxtel Cup on Tuesday night. 

Durdin has not played a game yet this season after undergoing surgery on a broken thumb in February, but he is set to line up for his senior SANFL side when it opens this year's Foxtel Cup competition. 

The 17-year-old is seen as a possible top-five draft pick given his ability to play key position at both ends of the ground, and he is likely to settle into a defensive post on Tuesday. 

"He's champing at the bit to play," said West Adelaide's football services manager, Andrew Marks. 

"He's very excited. He had a ripper pre-season so he probably would have started in the senior team.

"Sam does everything really, really well, and he's always doing that little bit extra. He's such a level-headed kid that he knows he's got to work hard to get where he wants to go."

Durdin, a member of the AIS-AFL Academy, rucked last year for South Australia during the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, but is likely to settle into a key position during this year's national carnival for his state team. 

West Adelaide will aim to get off to a winning start in its bid to win back-to-back Foxtel Cup titles when it plays Tasmanian club Western Storm at AAMI Stadium. 

The fourth year of the Foxtel Cup competition pits eight state-league sides against each other in a knockout format.

Marks said West Adelaide would try to blood several other under-18 draft hopefuls in the game, including Jesse Watchman and Harry Vick.

"We get shown nationally so we can promote our club that way, and the other part is that we get to showcase our players," he said.