WEST Coast forward Malakai Champion has avoided serious injury after a knee scare last week, with the Eagles confirming he had suffered only low-grade damage to his medial collateral ligament. 

Midfielder Jack Hutchinson, however, faces a battle to be ready for round one after requiring surgery for a stress fracture in his ankle.

Champion sent a scare through the Eagles camp when he went down in pain and clutched at his right knee during a routine handball drill last week. 

He was back in training on Friday, however, and looked impressive during a gruelling session on Monday morning, with the 19-year-old expected to spend "minimal time" in recovery. 

"It should be a fairly quick turnaround for him and we expect to see him back in the program full-time post-Christmas," high performance manager Phil Merriman said. 

Hutchinson is among a small group of Eagles being managed with injuries, with ruck Bailey Williams (groin), defender Bo Allan (wrist), key tall Harry Barnett (knee) and draftee Sam Allen (knee) also on modified programs. 

Liam Baker is expected to be back in full training after the Christmas break as he recovers from a hamstring complaint, while recruit Deven Robertson is completing a heavy running program as he recovers from shoulder surgery.  

Hutchinson, who played 16 games in 2025 and is looking to establish himself as a midfielder, is likely to miss crucial pre-season games next year after the decision was made to send him for surgery. 

"Unfortunately, we found a stress fracture in Jack's ankle," Merriman said.

"It’s in an area that has a poor healing capacity, so we sent him in for a procedure. 

"It's going to be a little bit longer for him, we will probably have him running around the 10-week mark and then have him progress from there." 

Merriman said Allan would complete a running program and kicking work as he recovers from a crack in his wrist, with the second-year Eagle running laps with performance leadership consultant Harry Taylor on Monday. 

Allen will progress to running in the new year after arriving at the Eagles six months into his recovery from an ACL injury. 

Williams and Barnett are both targeting a return to full training in late January.