The West Coast Eagles have elevated former Collingwood forward Brad Dick off their rookie list ahead of a cut-throat elimination final clash with North Melbourne on Sunday.
Dick was placed on the club's senior list on Wednesday, only a short time before the deadline for elevating rookies ahead of the finals.
The 24-year-old has kicked 12 goals in the last three matches for East Fremantle and could be poised to be a X-factor for the Eagles heading into this finals series.
Eagles' midfielder Luke Shuey, however, feels that regardless of x-factors the young side is far better prepared for finals than 12 months ago.
The surprise packet of 2011, West Coast were just one win away from a grand final appearance before going down to eventual premiers Geelong in the preliminary final.
But Shuey said the group will benefit from another year's experience.
"I think as a young group we've faced a couple of big games this year and I think we've been able to stand up, so nothing changes this week," he said.
"I think guys like Andrew Gaff and Jack Darling have stepped up in big games and had an impact, which is a real positive for us."
Shuey came second to Essendon's Dyson Heppell in the NAB Rising Star after a stellar 2011 but had a poor finals series.
When asked how he felt he was exposed in finals football he said: "Probably getting nabbed three times in the one game holding the ball has something to do with it."
"I went into last year I think with only 25 games under my belt, so really had no idea what to expect."
West Coast have faced one of the toughest runs into the finals having played Geelong, Collingwood and Hawthorn in the past month.
"We've really enjoyed the preparation and really taken it on head first," Shuey said.
"I think it's the ideal preparation for us.
"We've been able to knock Collingwood off pretty confidently out here, which gives us a lot of confidence.
"I think after quarter time on Friday night we played some pretty good footy against Hawthorn who are the best team in the comp at the moment."
The Eagles will play North Melbourne, who they only beat by two points in round 15 before the Kangaroos made a charge of six straight wins.
And Shuey lauded their midfield ahead of the final.
"I'd say I'm going to be playing on blokes like (Jack) Ziebell, (Ben) Cunnington, and (Andrew) Swallow and these sorts of blokes, which is a great challenge for me, they've had great years," he said.
1 Comments
Careful West Coast dont let Eddie Maguire hear that news, he'll have youse in court if he hears you may benefit from some one who was once on the Collingwood payroll. you know how shitty he gets when any body even talks to his boys. even if he has finished with them...
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