West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter rules Elijah Hewett out of North Melbourne clash

Young West Coast midfielder Elijah Hewett will miss at least another week, but Eagles coach Andrew McQualter still insists it won’t be a long-term absence.

Hewett battled a calf niggle throughout pre-season but was felled by a quad concern just days out from the club’s season opener against Gold Coast.

Now, the injury-prone young gun who previously spent a year out of the game after foot surgery will miss West Coast’s first home clash of 2026 against North Melbourne on Sunday.

“Elijah won’t play next week, to my understanding, but I think I said last week he won’t be a long-term injury,” McQualter told 7NEWS.

“Hopefully, he’ll build himself up. He trained yesterday, and it won’t be long.”

The Eagles will be able to select co-captain Liam Baker and former Crow Harry Schoenberg this week after the pair served a carried-over suspension in round one.

McQualter also said he expected key defender Harry Edwards to clear concussion protocols this week in a big boost to the sides’ undermanned defence, who will need to stop Nick Larkey this week.

However, the second-year coach had no clear timeline on boom recruit Brandon Starcevich, who has been struck down by dual calf injuries.

“I’m confident Harry Edwards will get through his concussion protocols and train this week,” he said.

“Straight away, that sures up some of our backline as well, so they’re really important players to us.

“Starcevich will still be a few weeks away. He’s still got a little bit of prep to do before he gets himself right to play.

“He’s obviously missed a fair bit of football now, so we’ll have to work on his progression back in. We just can’t wait until he’s available. He’ll make a big difference to our team.”

West Coast opened their season on Sunday with a horror first half against the Suns, but rescued some optimism in the second, winning the third quarter and keeping the margin under 10 goals, if only just.

They also saw an impressive debut from former East Fremantle midfielder Milan Murdock, who only realised his dream of being on an AFL list two weeks ago.

But two weeks appears a long time in footy with McQualter already referring to the 25-year-old as the Eagles’ “energiser bunny”.

“That’s just the way he plays his footy,” he said.

“He’s a confident young man, and I loved the way his first possession in the game on the back of that holding the ball summed up his (journey) so far.

“He’s a real energiser bunny for the team. So, he had a great performance, and hopefully he can string a few together.”