West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter defends ruckman Matt Flynn, optimistic Elliot Yeo, Elijah Hewett fit

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has come to the defence of embattled ruckman Matt Flynn as calls grow for the Eagles to recall Bailey Williams.

It also comes as the second-year coach flagged that there is a chance veteran midfielder Elliot Yeo could make an early return from his latest groin setback sustained against Port Adelaide.

Flynn has been comprehensively beaten in the ruck in all four of West Coast’s clashes this season, capped by Brodie Grundy running riot with 28 disposals, 33 hitouts, nine clearances and a goal as Sydney beat up the Eagles by 128 points on Easter Saturday.

The Eagles’ big man, who joined the club after a stint at Greater Western Sydney, has attended the fifth-most ruck contests in season 2026 but sits well behind the top 10 hitout winners with only 75.

Meanwhile, Williams produced 34 hitouts and two goals in West Coast’s WAFL clash against Perth to back up a strong pre-season showing.

However, McQualter went into bat for Flynn while speaking on 7NEWS on Monday, labelling the 28-year-old a battler.

“I think Flynny’s been battling hard,” he said.

“He’s one of our leaders, and he’s trying to make our game really predictable for our midfield. He’s come up against, the reality is, three of the premier rucks in the competition in the last month, so, it’s an area we’re working really hard on and we’re supporting him as much as we can.”

The Eagles can be assured of at least one change this weekend as Deven Robertson will return from a one-game ban to strengthen the midfield, while McQualter was optimistic he could even be joined by stoppage bull Yeo as well as luckless youngster Elijah Hewett.

“(Yeo’s) a chance,” he said.

“There’s still a few sessions we’ve got to get through this week but we’re confident if it’s not this week it’s next week.

“(Hewett’s) put a couple of (WAFL) games together now, which is important. He missed a fair bit of football, but he’s an important player to us, Elijah, and hopefully, he’s done enough now to get himself ready for AFL football.

“Hopefully we can get those guys back to support our contest.”

The news on burgeoning cult hero Milan Murdock wasn’t quite as positive, with McQualter revealing the SSP signing and former East Fremantle ball-winner was at least another week away.

“He’s not going to play this week,” he said.

“If you asked him, he was available three weeks ago, but he won’t play this week. He’s tracking well and won’t be too far away.”