SHANNON Hurn's knee injury is a huge blow to West Coast, his teammate Chris Masten says.
Hurn has been ruled out for up to six weeks after straining the medial ligament in his right knee during West Coast's 93-point win over Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.
"He's obviously a big loss," Masten said.
"He's pretty important in our back half, his kick is one of the best in the League.
"But we've got good players who are going to step up and fill his hole while he's not there."
Coach Adam Simpson was pleased with the performance of Brad Sheppard, who came on as the sub against the Demons in the second quarter and gathered 17 possessions.
The Eagles have some other options. Draftee Dom Sheed had 23 disposals and kicked two goals for East Perth in the WAFL and could come straight back in after playing as the sub in round one against the Western Bulldogs.
Sam Butler and Adam Carter gathered 23 possessions each for East Perth in the WAFL last Saturday.
Will Schofield could also be an option to replace Hurn. Schofield faced the WAFL tribunal on Tuesday night and was found guilty of striking Swan Districts' Aidan Anderson during East Perth's 18-point win, but he escaped with a reprimand.
Masten believes there is plenty of flexibility within the Eagles side. It is something Simpson has emphasised since he arrived at West Coast.
"I think I have always played half-forward, wing, and onball, but I think a few more players are doing it now," Masten said.
"We're sharing the load in the middle a lot more and we've also got those half-backs that are playing on the wing as well so that's very handy.
"If we can play multi-positions and be constantly changing around it's hard for the teams to match up on us."
Masten says the Eagles are also benefitting from having fully fit midfielders Luke Shuey and Sharrod Wellingham up and firing after both missed large chunks of last season due to injury.
"Obviously if you have your A-graders out there, the teams have to worry about that, which makes a massive difference on game day," Masten said.
"You could see Shuey on the weekend, he was in everything. He is so important for us."
