Scans have confirmed Jack Darling has suffered a fractured arm in yet another injury blow to Adam Simpson and the Eagles, reports SEN's Tim Gossage.
West Coast could only pick from 26 available players on Friday night when going down to Gold Coast by 80 points, but the crisis has continued to worsen.
Darling suffered a knock to the left forearm in the third term and despite trying to battle out the game, had little use of that arm. He finished with seven touches and a behind.
Breaking: Scans have revealed Jack Darling has fractured his arm.
— Tim Gossage 🤓 (@TimGossage) May 13, 2023
The Eagles are yet to comment on the severity, although Darling looks likely for at least multiple weeks on the sidelines.
Jamaine Jones was earlier subbed out of the clash with a broken nose, but the 24-year-old could still line up next week.
As many as 19 players were on West Coast’s injury list earlier this week and Simpson said in his press conference that he had only 26-27 players to pick from to play the Suns.
With four emergencies alongside the 22, one of which becomes the substitute, the Eagles essentially had no spare players.
But speaking after the Round 9 loss, the premiership coach was optimistic that some troops could return in the coming weeks.
“We’ll get some younger players back in the next few weeks so we’ve got to keep exposing them and giving them opportunities,” Simpson said.
“If we get to the end of the year and some of these kids have played 15-20 games, that’s a positive.”
Rhett Bazzo (concussion), Noah Long (hamstring) and Jack Williams (spleen) loom as the most likely inclusions next week when West Coast plays Hawthorn.