WEST Coast coach Adam Simpson says Nic Naitanui has been playing sore, but he's backing the star ruckman to play in Sunday's crunch AFL clash with GWS at Optus Stadium.

Naitanui, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, has been criticised in recent weeks for a lack of physicality and impact on games.

Greats Jonathan Brown and Nick Riewoldt said Naitanui didn't go hard enough during the round 14 loss to Essendon.

He tallied just seven disposals during last week's defeat to Adelaide, leading to more criticism.

Simpson says he will give Naitanui a rest when the 28-year-old truly needs it, but he doesn't expect it to be this week.

"He's a little bit sore at the moment. But whether that keeps him out of the side - I doubt it," Simpson said.

"We'll name him for sure. It's not as dire as that."

Simpson said Naitanui, who was widely praised for his hot form earlier this season, hadn't been bothered by the recent criticism.

Meanwhile, Simpson said the club was still investigating Monday morning's incident that ended with goalsneak Liam Ryan crashing his car into a tree.

Ryan has been ruled out of action this week, but it remains to be seen whether the club will hand down any sanction.

Simpson said police were still investigating the incident, and it might be a few more weeks before the Eagles knew more.

"The incident wasn't major. But he breached the player's trademark," Simpson said.

"He's a young man working through some issues. We need to respect that. But also we understand he's done the wrong thing. We can't just push that under the carpet.

"So finding that balance is important for us ,and looking after him at the same time is where we're at at the moment."

West Coast will again be without star forward trio Josh Kennedy (leg), Mark LeCras (wrist), and Jack Darling (ankle).

But the Giants were dealt a huge blow themselves this week when forward Jonathan Patton ruptured the ACL in his left knee.

Patton has already undergone two reconstructions on his right knee.