West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter considering if Bailey Williams and Matt Flynn play together in derby

West Coast will consider playing both Bailey Williams and Matt Flynn as a tandem ruck set up for Sunday’s western derby as they prepare for Fremantle to pick Mason Cox for the first time.

The Eagles have selected just one experienced ruckman for every game this season and partnered him with youngsters Cooper Duff-Tytler and Archer Reid.

The emerging pair struggled against Geelong, combining for only six disposals and six hitouts.

West Coast dropped Flynn for the clash against the Cats and selected Williams for the first time this season. He impressed with 20 disposals and seven clearances but Geelong had youngster Mitch Edwards leading their ruck division.

The Dockers have immense ruck depth with Luke Jackson in great form and Cox expected to pull on the purple jumper for the first time following a concussion to Sean Darcy.

“We’ll start putting some thought into that next couple of days. We expect Freo probably will bring in Cox, but we’ll plan as the week goes on,” Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said.

Williams and Flynn played together 11 times last season, but that was before the club had recruited Duff-Tytler.

West Coast are determined to develop their young key position players as quickly as possible which makes it harder for their experienced ruckmen to be in the same team.

But McQualter said it was also important not to put too much pressure on their youngsters.

“For young key position players, it’s so hard this game. I think it’s unlikely that our young keys will be able to play every game this year, because of just how difficult the game is,” he said.

“And so there is possibility that we play them both together at the same time and we’ll manage our players the best way we can. It’s just an incredibly difficult game for any young players, let alone young keys.

McQualter praised Williams for his efforts after a groin injury interrupted his pre-season. West Coast have struggled in the ruck this year when confronted by some of the game’s best big men in the early rounds.

Williams’ four marks were more than Flynn took across the first four games and he also led the Eagles for clearances as his mobility stood out against the Cats.

“I thought Bailey had some impact on the game, for sure. He looked strong in the contest. He won the ball well. He’ll take a little bit of time to build up to his full fitness capacity, but I thought it was a good start for him,” McQualter said.

“He’s rebuilt his game time with a plan to get him ready for AFL football and the rigours of the season. So the medical team will keep a close eye on him, and we’ll manage him if we need to.

“But Bailey’s been playing AFL for a while. He’s a bit more mature than some of our other guys, so it was a good start for him. And I hope we get the same in the next little period of time as well.”