CHRIS Masten has moved on from his suspension for biting, despite his distress immediately after the Tribunal hearing two weeks ago, according to West Coast coach Adam Simpson.
Masten returns to face St Kilda on Saturday for his first game since he was banned for two matches for biting Fremantle's Nick Suban in a spiteful Western Derby in round 20.
Simpson said both Masten and the club had been able to move on from the Tribunal decision more quickly than expected.
"Within two or three days, everyone got on with life. I think for that period, understandably, it was emotional and he was distraught," he said.
"But he's OK now. He's back to his normal self."
Masten has averaged nearly 27 disposals in 19 games and Simpson said it was good for him to freshen up ahead of the finals series.
"He needed the break physically," Simpson said.
"He might have been 50-50 to play anyway, so we took the opportunity to give him a break. But mentally he's in a good space. We've welcomed him back with open arms. He's a really important player in our side and adds to our balance in how we play."
The Eagles have also welcomed back both Sharrod Wellingham (ankle) and Sam Butler (hamstring) this week. Will Schofield needs another week before his hamstring is fully recovered. Jeremy McGovern is fine after copping a heavy knock to the shoulder last week.
Simpson said the Eagles were in no position to rest players, given they must win to lock in a home qualifying final next week. He also declined to publicly air his thoughts on other clubs resting their players ahead of the finals.
"If we have an issue with any of those things, we'll talk to the AFL about it," Simpson said.
"We won't have opinions and voice them through the media. At the moment it doesn't affect us. We're playing our best side and we're playing to win.
"But we might get some clarification away from here."
Simpson said the Eagles are edging closer to their best available side, given the injuries they have suffered, but he remained unsure what his best 22 looked like for the first week of the finals.
"We've been a bit disjointed with everything. I think our midfield and our forward half has been pretty consistent with numbers," he said.
"We are building towards what we think is going to be our best 22 for finals."
However, there has been no room made this week for vice-captain Scott Selwood. He gathered 21 disposals for East Perth last week in his first game back since missing two weeks with his ongoing ankle issues.
Selwood said earlier this week he hoped to remain at West Coast next year, despite the fact he will become a restricted free agent and that he has been heavily linked to a move to Geelong.
Simpson said Selwood simply needed more minutes at WAFL level.
"He's played 70 or 80 minutes at East Perth," Simpson said.
"So he'll get some more minutes this week. See how his body pulls up.
"He's obviously been very disrupted. He's still part of our squad, he's emergency and if we need him we'll call upon him."
