{"id":411213,"date":"2026-01-14T01:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T01:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411213\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T01:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T01:12:18","slug":"premiership-eagle-set-for-a-delayed-start-to-2026-afl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411213\/","title":{"rendered":"Premiership Eagle set for a delayed start to 2026 – AFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Premiership defender Tom Cole<\/a> is set for a delayed start to 2026 as he continues to manage a finger tendon injury and is currently limited to running.<\/p>\n

Cole is one of the more experienced players amongst this Eagles’ young side, and one of only three premiership players left from their 2018 premiership side, along with Liam Duggan<\/a> and Elliot Yeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Tom’s injury requires avoiding any contact drills for now,” West Coast high-performance manager Phil Merriman said.<\/p>\n

“We’re hopeful he can start some skill drills next week before gradually reintegrating back into the full program and, in the meantime, will continue with his running.”<\/p>\n

\"PERTH,PERTH, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 16: Tom Cole of the Eagles in action during the 2025 AFL Round 01 match between the West Coast Eagles and the Gold Coast Suns at Optus Stadium on March 16, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Janelle St Pierre\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A pair of draftees are also missing key time in their first pre-season in the AFL<\/a>, with Sam Allen<\/a> recovering from an ACL setback, and Fred Rodriguez<\/a>\u00a0managing a stress injury in his foot.<\/p>\n

Allen only featured in the first three rounds of the Coates Talent League before suffering an ACL injury at training. Despite the setback, the wingman was rated highly and was taken by the Eagles at pick 29.<\/p>\n

“Sam has started his change-of-direction block,” Merriman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’ll build that and then move into low-level football drills over the next two weeks. He’s still around four months away from full training.<\/p>\n

“Fred will remain non-weight bearing for two weeks, and we’ll gradually reload him over the following month.”<\/p>\n

\"WestPERTH, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 24: Kieren Briggs of the Giants compete in a ruck contest with Harry Barnett of the Eagles of the Eagles during the 2024 AFL Round 02 match between the West Coast Eagles and the GWS GIANTS at Optus Stadium on March 24, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Carson\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Developing ruck Harry Barnett<\/a> is making progress from his PCL injury and should be back in main training by February, and fellow ruckman Bailey Williams<\/a> is ramping up his training following his groin injury.<\/p>\n

After ankle surgery in December, utility Jack Hutchinson<\/a> is set progress in his rehabilitation. The mid-season draftee has shown his talent across his two seasons, and will be key in the Eagles’ future success.<\/p>\n

“Jack is set to come out of the boot as part of his next recovery phase,” Merriman said.<\/p>\n

“He will start a strengthening program for his lower leg along with a block of cross-training.”<\/p>\n

The Eagles face off against Port Adelaide on March 1 for the Community Series Clash, before opening their 2026 season against Gold Coast in Round 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Premiership defender Tom Cole is set for a delayed start to 2026 as he continues to manage a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-411213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}