West Coast’s head of football John Worsfold says the heavy loss to Port Adelaide even came as a shock to club insiders, but he’s confident the return of several key players will make a major difference for the season proper.

The Eagles’ summer of optimism was dealt a harsh reality check on March 1 when they slumped to a 73-point loss to Port Adelaide in Perth.

West Coast entered the match missing star recruit Brandon Starcevich (calf), Reuben Ginbey (foot) and Liam Duggan (concussion) from their backline, on top of losing key defender Harry Edwards to concussion in the opening minutes of the match.

Midfielders Tim Kelly (hamstring) and Jack Graham (hamstring) were also absent.

Despite winning the inside 50m count 50-48, West Coast could only muster 9.13 (67) against Port’s 22.8 (140).

The Eagles won only one game in last year’s wooden spoon campaign and the result of their pre-season match raised concerns of more pain to come in 2026.

“It was a bit of a shock to all of us,” Worsfold told AAP of the loss to Port.

“Even assessing that game, there was some good stuff in the game, but we got thrashed. So that’s the bottom line.

“You look at all the Champion Data measures - the predicted outcome was maybe a 30-point loss, which is still disappointing.

“But why did it end up being 73? That’s what you try and dig into.

“We know that we were undermanned in our back half with big names that didn’t play on the weekend, and we’ve got a couple of senior players through the midfield not available with Jack Graham and Tim Kelly.”

Starcevich was ruled out of WA’s State of Origin loss to Victoria in February after battling a minor strain to his anterior cruciate ligament over the summer, followed by a calf injury.

The 26-year-old former Brisbane Lion was still aiming to be fit for West Coast’s season opener against Gold Coast on March 15 - following their Opening Round bye - but he was sent for more scans on his calf after suffering another setback.

Worsfold said those scans didn’t show anything serious, but given Starcevich’s restricted pre-season, the tough defender was unlikely to be risked against the Suns.

“It probably means we won’t push it now,” said Worsfold, who captained West Coast to the 1992 and ‘94 flags before leading them to the 2006 premiership as coach.

“He might be cleared from a calf point of view, but how do we get him resilient enough to play AFL without getting another injury?

“Whether that needs another week of full training, that’s what we’ve got to work on.”

Ginbey, Kelly, Edwards, Graham and Duggan are all chances to feature against the Suns next Sunday, with fitness tests during the week to determine their availability.

New co-captain Liam Baker and recruit Harry Schoenberg are suspended for the match.

But No.1 pick Willem Duursma, as well as fellow first-round draftees Josh Lindsay and Cooper Duff-Tytler, are all set to make their AFL debuts.

Former Lions midfielder Deven Robertson, ex-Richmond defender Tylar Young and former Collingwood player Finlay Macrae all have strong chances to be handed their Eagles debuts.