West Coast confirms Josh Kennedy will miss, Jack Darling recovery appears on track

WEST COAST has ruled out Josh Kennedy for Sunday’s crucial clash with Brisbane at ‘Gabba, but remain optimistic about the fitness of Jack Darling.

Darling was knocked out in a tackle by Oscar McDonald, 10 minutes into the Eagles’ 17-point loss against Melbourne at Optus Stadium at the weekend.

The 26-year-old has recovered well since the incident and will be assessed throughout the week.

Kennedy will miss a fifth-consecutive match as he continues to recover from a shin injury sustained at training.

“I’ve done a lot of campaigning today and it hasn’t got me too far, so I think we’ll miss Josh this week - he won’t play,” Simpson told Seven News.
“Jack ... he’s fine. He got some minor concussion and we didn’t take the risk in the game.

“He seems to be OK. Until we do the testing later in the week we won’t really know but at the moment, we’re thinking Josh won’t play and Jack will.”

The Eagles missed an opportunity to secure second place on the ladder and a qualifying final at Optus Stadium against a spirited Demons line-up.

Simpson’s team are still frontrunners to finish inside the top two, but would open the door for Collingwood and Hawthorn if they lose to the resurgent Lions.

The Magpies in particular present as West Coast’s greatest threat, with a match against the confidence-ridden Dockers to be played on Saturday evening at Optus Stadium.

Even if the Eagles were to relinquish second place, Simpson believes the club’s premiership campaign would remain intact.

“Top two’s up for grabs this week and that would be great to get two home finals, but I think ambitions of finishing top four - that’s the main goal, and top two, we’ll take that any day of the week,” Simpson said.

“We’re going for it. We’re going full bore at it but I don’t think it’s season-on-the-line type stuff.

West Coast has won its last four matches at the ‘Gabba. The first bounce is at 11:10am, WST.