West Coast midfielder Daniel Kerr is in doubt for this weekend's clash against Richmond with a string of niggling injuries.
Kerr has been struggling to overcome general wear and tear on his knee, but his cause was not helped by getting bitten by a stingray at St Kilda beach following last round's loss to Hawthorn.
To make matters worse, Kerr has also been suffering from a virus which has restricted his training over the past fortnight, forcing Eagles coach John Worsfold to admit the premiership midfielder may not recover in time for Sunday's clash with the Tigers.
"I'll talk to Daniel this afternoon. There seems to be a lot of doubt about him. He's had a few issues," said Worsfold before training on Wednesday.
"Obviously the stingray incident has held him back a fair bit and that may have been good for his knee."
"He had a virus the other day (as well) so I just want to see how he's feeling overall."
Worsfold added that Sam Butler (groin) would probably be played in the WAFL this round if he passed a fitness test on Wednesday night, although David Wirrpanda (back) and Brett Jones (knee) would return to the senior side.
He said impressive young key forward Josh Kennedy would also be added to the team after booting three goals for East Fremantle in its big win over East Perth last weekend.
Worsfold said it was the development of young players like Kennedy, Ryan Davis, Beau Wilkes and Will Schofield that had been some consolation in a dismal year that now sees the 2006 premiers vying for its first wooden spoon with Fremantle and Melbourne.
The coach, for the first time this season, admitted the Eagles were in more of a rebuilding phase than they had been previously, but said that injuries to key players had given his youngsters extra game time, allowing them to develop more quickly and form the nucleus of a team that could challenge for the premiership once again.
"We're not going to win a premiership in 2008, but only one team is, so there's quite a few going to fall on their faces," Worsfold said.
"Our aim is to win a premiership as quickly as possible (and) build a team that's going to do that. This year now becomes a building year for us."
"Generally you need a squad, or your 22 that you take into the finals series, need to be fairly experienced with games under their belt so we're starting to get that into them."
"(And), if the suggestion is that we can try harder because we want to avoid a wooden spoon, then I'd be saying ... I'm not going to try any harder for any reason other than the pride of doing our best every week."