West Coast's season from hell took another turn for the worse on Thursday when key defenders Adam Hunter and Brett Jones were ruled out for the rest of the season.
The pair have been booked in for season-ending surgery next week and will not play in Saturday night's game against Brisbane at the Gabba.
The Eagles released a statement on Thursday saying 'both men have finally succumbed to debilitating injuries in recent weeks and will need operations to rectify those problems'.
Hunter, the Eagles' most versatile big man who finished second in last year's best and fairest, requires a shoulder reconstruction as well as knee surgery.
The experienced 27-year-old, who has played 143 games, has been battling worn cartilage behind his knee cap. He is troubled when attempting to kick over longer distances as well as causing him pain when attempting marks.
Jones, who has played 83 games including 14 of 15 this year, is battling a similar complaint. Worn cartilage at the back of his knee is causing swelling which has made it difficult for him to run and turn.
The club's decision to book the key pair in for season-ending surgery continues the recent trend of clubs already out of finals contention at this time of the year deciding to prematurely end the season of injured players.
But it will also only increase speculation among footy fans that this is the time of the year when struggling clubs begin to 'tank' in order to finish as low as possible on the ladder to again an advantage come draft time.
A recent survey of more than 14,000 footy fans in Melbourne's Herald Sun Newspaper showed more than 77 percent believed clubs don't make their best efforts to win games late in the season when already out of finals contention - despite constant denials from clubs and the AFL.
While no club is eligible for a priority pick before the first round of the national draft this year - which only goes to clubs that win four or less games two years in a row - any club that wins four games or less this year will still be eligible for a priority pick at the end of the first round of the draft.
And with Melbourne, West Coast and Fremantle all on just two wins, any of the three clubs could finish last and claim first pick in what is shaping as one of the strongest drafts since the