West Coast has confirmed that Jack Hutchinson will be sidelined for a lengthy period after scans confirmed a stress fracture in his ankle.
Hutchinson joined the Eagles via the 2024 MSD and has impressed quickly, playing 23 games.
The 24-year-old was set to take on a more prominent midfield role in the club's youthful on-ball group next year, but is expected to miss the start of the season.
"Unfortunately, we found a stress fracture in Jack's ankle," West Coast High Performance Manager Phil Merriman said.
"It's in an area that has a poor healing capacity, so we sent him in for a procedure.
"It's going to be a little bit longer for him; we will probably have him running around the 10-week mark and then have him progress from there."
However, the news is positive for NGA graduate and forward Malakai Champion, who avoided a serious knee injury last week.
Champion was sent for scans after he limped from the training last Wednesday and was spotted with club trainers.
Despite the injury to his MCL, West Coast are hopeful for a full return in the new year.
"Malakai has a low-grade MCL injury," Merriman said.
"It should be a fairly quick turnaround for him, and we expect to see him back in the program full-time post-Christmas."
Ruck-forward Bailey Williams is following a similar timeline to that of a groin injury.
Youngster Bo Allan (wrist) and Harry Barnett (PCL) are also tending to their respective ailments.
"Bo has a little crack in his wrist," Merriman said.
"It will be a quick recovery, but he can do all the running that we want him to do, and he can keep kicking. We just need to protect that wrist for about four weeks.
"Harry is progressing really well. He was actually able to complete a footy drill on Wednesday.
"We are going to give him a pretty specific program to follow over the Christmas break and will see him getting back into drills post-Christmas, and full training in late January."
