West Coast Eagles forward Mikayla Western suffers ACL injury on eve of club’s first finals campaign

West Coast have suffered a heartbreaking blow on the eve of their first AFLW finals campaign, with an injury suffered by forward Mikayla Western at training last week confirmed as an ACL tear.

Western played the first 11 games of the season for the Eagles but missed their loss to Carlton in the final round of the home and away season on Friday night after going down at training in midweek.

On Tuesday afternoon, the club confirmed Western had torn the ligament in a blow which is set to see her miss the rest of this season and may sideline her for much of 2026.

“Mikayla unfortunately ruptured her ACL during a training session last week,” Eagles high performance manager Sam Batterton said.

“She will have surgery next week and will be unavailable for the rest of the campaign.

“The team will get around her and we will give her our full support as her rehab journey gets underway.”

The 27-year-old has played 39 games across four seasons with West Coast, having made a cross-town move from Fremantle — where she made a sole AFLW appearance — in 2022.

Western is the second Eagle to suffer the injury this season, coming after young gun Courtney Rowley, who tore the ligament for the second time in their win over Collingwood in round eight.

West Coast will be without Western for their elimination final re-match with the Blues in Melbourne on Saturday but but are set to re-gain the services of hard-nosed defender Jess Rentsch, who missed the last round of the home and away season due to suspension.