NIC NAITANUI still needs to prove he is ready to unleash his explosive leap before returning to football, but West Coast coach Adam Simpson expects the star ruckman to play round one if he doesn't suffer any "hiccups" in his comeback bid.

Naitanui has not played for 18 months following his knee reconstruction and the Eagles are targeting their second JLT Community Series clash against Fremantle for his long-awaited return. 

The 201cm big man trained strongly on Thursday morning at Optus Stadium, joining in full-ground match scrimmage work, but is yet to showcase his dynamic jump.

There has been widespread speculation about the state of Naitanui's knee the longer his comeback bid has dragged out. 

But Simpson declared his prized asset's steady build-up this pre-season has been partly due to the club's caution and some slight soreness. 

"I hope it doesn't look like we're trying to make things up, but we take him to a point where we need to pull him back and then we build him back up and then we pull him back," Simpson said. 

"Our plan still is to get him at the back end of JLT and hopefully into round one, but if that doesn't happen then round two.

"There was a minor clean-up at the end of the season, nothing exploratory about it, it was just a clean-up.

"It's taken a little bit of time to get him up and going.

"We get him to a point, then we need to pull him back.

"So we keep getting five per cent better every time, and with no hiccups he'll play round one."

Despite some dire speculation about Naitanui having bone-on-bone in his reconstructed left knee which could shorten his career, the Eagles are planning for the 27-year-old to play well beyond his 2019 contract.

"We're still optimistic we'll get the best out of Nic and his good footy and best footy is still to come, but time will tell," Simpson said. 

"That's why we're managing it. It's a delicate operation really. 

"We don't want to get him just for the early part of the year, we want to get him for another three-to-four years."

Although it is possible Naitanui could appear in the round one blockbuster against Sydney without any pre-season minutes under his belt, Simpson hoped his No.1 ruckman and star spearhead Josh Kennedy (ankle) would appear before the season-opener. 

WAFL alignment club East Perth has a practice match on March 17, which could be a last resort avenue back for West Coast's two biggest stars. 

"These guys have unfortunately missed a big chunk of pre-season and ideally they play a couple of games before we start," Simpson said.

"One thing, though, is they're A-grade players, so if anyone can come up early it's those two."

Naitanui trained at full-forward swapping into the ruck during some match simulation on Thursday, at one point throwing All Australian backman Jeremy McGovern aside before juggling a mark.

Electric small Liam Ryan was busy ahead of his first game in blue and gold this Sunday against Port Adelaide at Leederville Oval. 

Midfield recruit Brendon Ah Chee will also debut against his former club, while young guns Jake Waterman and Daniel Venables will have the opportunity to impress before round one.