WEST Coast is unlikely to rush back star pair Nic Naitanui and Elliot Yeo for next Sunday's Western Derby after its midfield found its groove in an impressive 19-point win against Greater Western Sydney.
The Eagles beat the Giants at the coalface at Optus Stadium, setting their win up in the second quarter as senior midfielders Tim Kelly, Luke Shuey and Dom Sheed won the critical contests.
Coach Adam Simpson said Yeo (calf) and Naitanui (Achilles) are likely to fall short of returning for an intriguing Derby against the 0-2 Dockers, who have midfield issues to address ahead of the cross-town clash.
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He said the Eagles' dramatic turnaround in form following a round one defeat to North Melbourne came down to winning the midfield contests, having controlled clearances 14-9 in the second quarter.
"What's been missing is we haven't been winning the ball ... I've said a million times, our biggest issue in the last two or three years is the contest," Simpson said.
"If we get that right and we're competitive in that area, then we can look at other things.
"Tim (Kelly) did set the standard and I thought Bailey (Williams) lifted from a ruck point of view.
"We respect the Giants. They're missing a few soldiers and they're coming off a pretty tough game. But the boys got to work."
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Simpson downplayed the significance of Sunday's win after stinging criticism following the opening round defeat to North Melbourne.
After squaring the season at 1-1, the coach was also keen to separate the current group from the struggles of 2022.
"We were disappointed last week, but I suspect there's 18 clubs who have been disappointed with a half here, a quarter there. Not many have got through just with eight quarters of brilliance," Simpson said.
"I get the connection to last year and where we're at and what we're doing, and we're nowhere near the finished product. But I think we're a different side.
"The reflections on when we have a bad game or a bad quarter, I think it's easy to compare to last year and understand it and accept it.
"But different personnel, different side, different fitness, hopefully a different style of play. They got rewarded with a bit of effort today, and it all started around winning the ball."
Giants coach Adam Kingsley said his team would need to address its second quarter lapse, which saw the Eagles pile on six unanswered goals and eight in total for the term.
"I think they kicked half their score in that quarter alone, and we need to be better in future around being able to manage that when we haven't got momentum (and) being able to minimize the damage that they were able to inflict," Kingsley said.
He expects star pair Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield will be available to take on Carlton next Saturday after missing one match each with concussion.
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Defender Jacob Wehr was on the end of a brutal bump for the second straight week after being collected by Eagles defender Liam Duggan and suffered an AC joint injury, but Kingsley said he had no issues with the hit.
"He's put his body on the line two weeks in a row now. He's a brave, brave boy," the coach said of Wehr.
"He doesn't take his eyes off the ball and plays exactly how you want him to play. Today is just unfortunate.
"I'm not sure how many (matches) he misses, if he misses at all. We'll get back to Sydney and go through that process.
"I didn't have any gripes with it to be quite frank, when two guys go for the ball."
