West Coast captain Luke Shuey says he will be fully recovered from his twin hamstring injuries as he prepares to face Collingwood in a final for the fifth time.
Shuey, who has not played since injuring both hamstrings against Essendon in round 15, stepped up his training before the Eagles returned from the Gold Coast and had another session at the club’s Lathlain base yesterday.
He will have had 32 days without playing by the time West Coast takes on the Magpies in an elimination final at Optus Stadium on Saturday week.
“I think I would have probably played this weekend had there been a game,” Shuey said.
“So the extra week is good. I’ll be completely fine by the time the first final rolls around.
“I actually had a big hit-out, I think it was the last day in the hub as well, so I’ve got a couple of good sessions under my belt.
“We’ll have another one Friday and then flick into game mode next week.”
Shuey was forced to watch West Coast’s final three games of the regular season as his teammates fell short of a top-four finish.
In hindsight, he wished he didn’t return to the field against the Bombers after feeling a hamstring twinge.
But Shuey doesn’t believe the second injury extended his time on the sidelines.
“I had a little tweak of the right one in the third quarter and we assessed it with the medicos and I was completely fine running at three-quarter time,” he said.
“I pressed my case to go back on and I was able to get back out there and then unfortunately the left one went.
“So I think looking back, in terms of the actual hamstring we were treating at three-quarter time, the decision was OK because I didn’t actually do any further damage to that one.
“I’ve probably got to learn just not to push my case so much to go back on and make life hard for the medicos. Maybe I need to take a breath and just let them make the decision on their own.
“Even if I had have just done the one, I probably still would have missed the same amount of time.”
Shuey will take on the Pies in a final for the first time since his 2018 Norm Smith Medal heroics, as the clubs meet in the finals for the ninth time.
He was part of losing teams in the 2011 qualifying final and a semifinal the following year, before wins in the 2018 qualifying final and grand final. Shuey starred with 34 disposals and a goal in the 2018 decider.
“We’ve got a nice little history, us and Collingwood. Some really good games. So it’s exciting,” he said.
“They pushed Port Adelaide right til the end on the weekend. We certainly expect them at their best next week.”
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails