West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter addresses ruck selection between Matt Flynn and Bailey Williams

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has revealed ruckman Bailey Williams isn’t ready to play a full game as the lead big man despite being added to the squad to face Geelong on Sunday. West Coast have struggled in the ruck this season with Matt Flynn battling to compete against Jarrod Witts, Tristan Xerri and Brodie Grundy. Williams is on West Coast’s extended interchange bench for Sunday’s game at Norwood Oval but McQualter said the groin injury which interrupted his pre-season meant it wasn’t realistic for him to play a full game. “Bailey didn’t train much in the pre-season,” McQualter said. “He’s now put together three or four WAFL games and a few were on managed minutes. It was really about getting work into his legs. We know his performances and the capabilities he’s got. We just have to work out how much game time if he plays and what it looks like.” Geelong have rested veteran Mark Blicavs so 20-year-old Mitch Edwards will lead the ruck and most likely be supported by Shannon Neale. West Coast have been using youngsters Archer Reid and Cooper Duff-Tytler as Flynn’s support and McQualter said they had to decide whether it was important to bolster the team with Williams’ experience. “That’s an ongoing conversation in our match committee,” he said. “We’ve got two young guys playing in our forward line who can also ruck. Potentially both might be number one rucks in the future at some point. “It is an area of the game that we are continually trying to work on and get our best balance. I’m not sure what that will be yet but we are lucky that we have choices.” Elijah Hewett was also named in the team after an interrupted pre-season and the Eagles have high hopes that he will pick up from where he left off last season. But the 21-year-old appears unlikely to be sent into the midfield too much until the Eagles are confident his body is strong again. “Elijah is a really important player for us,” he said. “He had a great block pre-Christmas. He was really healthy and did a great training block. He just didn’t get to do a lot of training post-Christmas. “He’s put together two or three games now in the WAFL. We’re just going to have to work out if he’s match ready to play. He’s such an important player for us now and into the future. “Elijah’s durability was pretty strong last year. He had some pretty challenging years before that. With time he definitely has the capability to be a midfielder but for us it is going to be about balancing that workload and mix that we have through that midfield.”