SO MUCH of West Coast's 2022 pre-season has been spent doing a stocktake of what is missing that it has been easy to ignore what remains. 

But with an injury list that is unprecedented for the Eagles at the start of a season, and at least 11 members of their best team missing, it is those who are available who matter most now. 

Two pillars that remain standing ahead of the season-opener against Gold Coast are premiership captain Shannon Hurn and champion forward Josh Kennedy, who have been there so often for their club. 

The 34-year-olds were the last listed Eagles to sign on for 2022, waiting until November to announce new deals, but they could prove two of the more important signatures if the Eagles are to win early-season games. 

For captain Luke Shuey, the decision for the pair to play this season should not be under-appreciated in the current circumstances. It certainly isn't by the Norm Smith medallist. 

"I don't think I'm the only one who is pretty happy (they've played on)," Shuey told AFL.com.au.

"They were always pretty keen to go again, and for guys who have served the club so well for so long, you give them a bit of leeway to call their own shots. 

"They're two of our senior guys who aren't on the injury list at the moment, so it's handy having their experience out there to direct our younger guys and hopefully they can keep producing some really good performances.

"Their footy IQ and the way they see the game is elite, so that's always handy, especially while a lot of our senior boys are out."

The injury crisis this summer has claimed half of West Coast's leadership group, with Shuey (hamstring), Liam Duggan (knee) and Oscar Allen (foot) all sidelined for Sunday's clash against Gold Coast. 

Vice captains Jeremy McGovern and Nic Naitanui and new leadership group member Tom Barrass will play, but the presence of Hurn and Kennedy has been important through a challenging pre-season.  

"There's no doubt that with their presence, guys still gravitate towards them and lean on them for all sorts of things," Shuey said.  

"It's funny when guys like Bunga and Joshy step away from official leadership duties, they're still the guys we go back to for advice during the week. 

"They don't really get too much of a break, but they both love the club and they love trying to help.

"We've never really been through something like this, so none of us have the experience of trying to navigate our way through. But it's not the end of the world."

Leading the Eagles through their nightmare pre-season on the injury front had been somewhat challenging, Shuey conceded, but the skipper was enjoying the opportunity to guide the club's younger players as opportunities are thrust upon them.  

Half-back Brady Hough will debut after being recruited with pick No.31 in last year's NAB AFL Draft, while wingman Patrick Naish looks set to add to his nine games with Richmond after joining the Eagles during the Supplemental Selection Period. 

The extent of the club's injuries means almost every available player was named in the 26-man squad to take on the Suns. 

Included in that list is the somehow forgotten Willie Rioli, who will play his first official game since the 2019 qualifying final against Essendon, and six All Australians, including Hurn and Kennedy. 

As McGovern indicated earlier this week, there is still belief at West Coast and there is still enough experience in an injury-hit team to give them a fighting chance. 

"We know what we can do, and we know what we want to do," McGovern said. 

"We'll be doing that as much as we can this year and will start with Gold Coast this week. There's still belief there.”