Some heavy news coming out of the West Coast Eagles camp this week in the ruck department!

Scott Lycett has been dropped from the Eagles side this week for disciplinary reasons and Jonathon Giles looks set to take on the no.1 ruck spot in Nic Naitanui’s absence. Naitanui will be out for the next 6-10 weeks after having surgery on both heels to aid in reducing tendon inflammation. Lycett was set to take over from Naitanui however, maybe a few too many ‘red cordials’, a missed curfew and a no-show at a recovery session last weekend have seen Lycett dropped from the line-up. As far as I know he will only miss one week of AFL and will play for East Perth in the WAFL instead.

So basically by default, Jonathan Giles has been given the call up to play his first game with the Eagles. Giles has been listed at three AFL clubs prior to joining West Coast – Port Adelaide, GWS and Essendon. The 28 year old was in excellent ruck form during his time at GWS and hopefully he will re-ignite that spark for the Eagles. Stefan Martin has been fairly handy in the ruck for Brisbane however I have a good feeling about Giles and I think he will be able to keep Martin at bay.

Another (more surprising) inclusion for West Coast this week is Lewis Jetta. Jetta has been in fairly average form since arriving from Sydney. He has been less than impressive even at WAFL level, finishing on just 8 disposals last week. West Coast Eagles will be looking for him to stand up this week and hopefully silence a few critics…

The Eagles were kept scoreless in the final quarter of last week’s loss to Adelaide, after having a 26-point lead during the match. The Crows kicked the final 8 goals of the game, with West Coast showing signs of practically just giving up in the fourth quarter… An unusual site for the Eagles, especially in front of a home crowd at Domain Stadium.

Both Brisbane and West Coast come into this team off a loss, the Lions have been in very poor form this season. I think the Eagles will definitely bounce back this week and hit Brisbane hard at the Gabba.

I am tipping West Coast Eagles to beat Brisbane Lions by 38 points!

Let us know your #AFLLionsEagles predictions at @TweetPerth @EmmaLianaPayne