West Coast's Nic Naitanui remains no guarantee to be fit for round one with the ruckman still yet to resume full training, according to SEN's West Australian correspondent Tim Gossage.
Naitanui, who tore his ACL in Round 21, 2016, still has question marks over his fitness despite not having underwent any setbacks.
“He still hasn’t resumed full training. He’s doing what’s needed according to them, but he’s not doing the whole lot that I would assume by now he would be doing," Gossage told SEN Drive.
“He’s getting better, the vision you see and we get very limited of course, but he does look like he’s getting there.”
Despite rumours that the Fijian native might've returned to the field had the Eagles made a deeper finals run in 2017, there are still doubts over his fitness, albeit not too serious ones.
“His fitness is working at about 80 percent. He might be ready for the last JLT game, might be, but he’s still a way off.
“Has he had a setback? No, probably not. But is he behind where I think everyone thought he’d be this time before Christmas? I think the answer is yes, I still think he’s got a way to go.”
