CRISIS created opportunity for West Coast star Reuben Ginbey last year, and the Eagles hope a serious quad injury for the key defender can now create a similar opening for a teammate to stand up and grab.
Ginbey was moved into the backline last year as a third tall option who played on a variety of opponents, but the loss of Jeremy McGovern to concussion forced him into a key defensive role on the opposition's star goalkickers.
It is a role he relished and one that tall duo Rhett Bazzo and Tylar Young will now need to take up as the Eagles prepare to be without Ginbey for the next two months, starting against North Melbourne at Optus Stadium on Saturday.
Backline coach Mitch Duncan said the Eagles would take a team approach to replacing Ginbey, but he was excited to see how Bazzo and Young would handle the challenge of more responsibility after an impressive month of football.
"Rhett and Youngy will have to take on a bit more of a key match-up, and then we can support them the best we can from there, but they're looking forward to the challenge," Duncan told AFL.com.au.
"When 'Gov' went out last year the club found out what Reuben's capability was when he went back, so who knows what might come of it now by Reubs being out.
"It's another exciting opportunity for someone, but it won't be up just to one individual to be able to cover Reubs.
"It's going to be us as a back seven or a back eight all working together really well to be able to cover it that way."
Young, who returned from an ACL injury with Richmond late in 2025 and was then traded to West Coast, has found his feet in recent weeks and grown in stature as an intercepting defender.
He ranks No.2 at the Eagles behind Ginbey for both intercept marks (1.9) and intercept possessions (6.3) and has expressed a keenness to play on the opposition's best forward.
Bazzo, meanwhile, came into the team ahead of the Eagles' round 10 win against Greater Western Sydney and has impressed after working hard on his positioning and contest work in the WAFL.
"He was holding his own really well in the WAFL competition, then he got his chance to come back and he's shown some great improvement," Duncan said.
"He's leading by example, his training standards have been really high, so it's pleasing to see him playing well.
"He's definitely capable of helping out in the air, as most defenders are, so it's just continuing to work on his positioning and being able to hold his own in the one-on-one contests, because that gives us a great opportunity if the ball can hit the ground."
Duncan is in his first season as backline coach after retiring last year following a 305-game career with Geelong, returning to WA after playing in two premierships and bolstering Andrew McQualter's coaching team.
The season got off to a rocky start for the backline, but Duncan's group has responded impressively over the past month as the Eagles hone their pressure game and make it harder for teams to move the ball quickly.
"We're definitely halving a lot more contests than we were in the first eight or nine rounds," Duncan said of the backline.
"I think as a whole group we've probably defended better in terms of our team defence, especially when you look at that game against GWS where I think it was the sixth best pressure game West Coast has ever had.
"So we're getting buy-in from a lot of people and that obviously helps the defenders in what they do."
There will be an added Geelong flavour to the Eagles' line-up this week with Cats' VFL product Marcus Herbert making his debut less than three weeks after being recruited in the Telstra AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft.
Duncan played alongside Herbert in the VFL last season and said the best and fairest winner would bring composure with the ball as well as a defensive edge to his half-back role.
"It's exciting. He'll spend a bit of time down back and he's got a few tricks up his sleeve," Duncan said.
"He's really a good little defender, so hopefully he can help us out with our offence, but also our defensive system and being able to cover in that area as well."
