Bulldogs midfield terrier Scott West looks set to resume playing after missing the past fortnight with a knee injury as the side goes into a tough match against West Coast this weekend.
“He’s ready to go, he trained yesterday and he’ll train later on in the week,” Assistant Coach Leon Cameron said.
“Obviously he’ll be champing at the bit to get back after seeing some of the performances from the guys over the past few weeks.”
The media this week have spent much time speculating over Bulldog injuries this week with Brian Lake going over near the end of last week's game and the Club is keen to move forward from the hype.
“That’s all done and dusted; I mean everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but that’s all done and dusted,” Cameron said.
“The game ended up in a draw, Brian had some issues with his body, he’s always had some issues with his body, he missed a lot of the pre-season, so he had to come off.
“We’ve moved on from that and moved onto West Coast.”
Cameron confirmed that Lake would be right to play this weekend, with a possible tussle with Quentin Lynch on the cards.
“He’ll be fine. He’s got to get assessed later in the week, he’s been assessed Monday and Tuesday, so we’ve just got to wait on him, but we expect him to play,” Cameron said.
While the Eagles have enjoyed a less than spectacular start to 2008, Cameron is adamant they can’t be underestimated and still retain a quality core of players.
“I think they’ll be hard to beat, their last quarter last weekend was fantastic, kicking seven goals and coming home with a rush,” he said.
“We got up and drew the game with three minutes to go and kicked three goals; 10 minutes more in their game, and the Eagles could have rolled Port.
“They took a stance, probably the second half of that game, so they’re probably looking to take that into this week’s game – plus they thumped us here last year and have a good record against us.”
While the Dogs were expected to comfortably account for the Tigers, Cameron says the club with which he finished his own playing career is finally coming good.
“It was a game of two halves; we did blow our chances early and probably should have come in with a bigger lead at half time,” Cameron said.
“In saying that, their third quarter and most of the fourth quarter was fantastic, and they carried on their form from the Fremantle game the week before, so I think you can’t underestimate Richmond.
“I think there’s a lot of people thinking it’s finally starting to come together there, and I reckon them playing Hawthorn this week will be a really good clash as well.”