West Coast’s AFLW key defensive stocks have suffered an early blow with Beth Schilling ruled out for the remainder of the season with a foot injury.

The 21-year key defender sustained the lisfranc injury during the second quarter of the Eagles’ opening-round win over Gold Coast at Mineral Resources Park on Thursday.

West Coast coach Daisy Pearce confirmed the prognosis on Tuesday ahead of Sunday’s clash with a high-scoring Essendon offence.

“Unfortunately, it’s a pretty significant foot injury,” Pearce said.

“She’ll miss the remainder of the season, which is a massive blow for us, and really disappointing for ‘Shillo’. She’s had a number of significant injuries.

“She’s an absolute warrior, the way that she competes. This one was a bit innocuous and just unlucky.

“So we’re feeling for Beth. She leaves a hole in our back line, but we’ll wrap our arms around her. We know she’ll attack rehab really well. She’ll be really well supported, and she’ll turn her attention to getting back bigger and better for 2026.”

Pearce said Roxy Roux performed well in filling the void against the Suns.

“We thought Roxy did a really good job at short notice to go down there and play down back. She’ll keep developing her back craft so that she’s got that flexibility,” she said.

“And then we’ve got Charlotte Riggs, who’s probably only another week away to coming back into availability for selection.

“She’s been performing pretty well as a back throughout the pre-season as well. So we’ll have some options to cover it, but there’s no one quite like Schillo so her loss will be felt.”

Schilling has played 19 AFLW games since her 2002 debut and was a Rising Star nominee last season.