West Coast are set to be forced to turn to co-captain Liam Duggan and recruit Brandon Starcevich to play as key defenders, with their lack of depth in the department exposed by an injury to star Reuben Ginbey.

The Eagles will be sweating on the results of scans for Ginbey after he sustained what appeared to be a serious quad injury during the third term of their six-point defeat to Port Adelaide at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.

Ginbey was giving a trademark desperate chase to stop an almost certain goal to his direct opponent, Mitch Georgiades, when his quad gave way, with the 21-year-old left to punch the turf in frustration.

His absence has compounded the struggles the Eagles face in the key defence department, with 200cm backman Harry Edwards already sidelined after he sustained three concussions in 71 days by round nine this year.

West Coast also lost club great Jeremy McGovern to a forced retirement because of a concussion last year, with the five-time All-Australian having been contracted for 2026. They traded away McGovern’s premiership teammate, Tom Barrass, at the end of 2024 to Hawthorn as well.

Sandy Brock is almost certain to earn a recall to take on a downtrodden North Melbourne at Optus Stadium this weekend to cover for the loss of Ginbey, but the former Gold Coast Sun is stronger as a third tall backman rather than a No.1 lockdown key defender.

The only other key back on their list is Category-B rookie Jake Miles-Wrency, who had seven goals kicked on him by Claremont spearhead Jaiden Hunter in his WAFL debut on Saturday, which was only his fourth game in five years after converting back from basketball.

It is likely to leave recruit Tylar Young with the role of trying to stop Kangaroos captain Nick Larkey, who kicked six goals against the Eagles in round two of this season.

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson could look to really expose the Eagles’ lack of height with Zane Duursma (190cm), former Eagle Jack Darling (191cm), Cooper Trembath (193cm), and Cam Zurhaar (190cm) all at his disposal.

However, coach Andrew McQualter flagged that dual Brisbane premiership defender Starcevich could be called upon to play as a tall defender despite being listed as only 188cm.

“He’s done that before, and he’s certainly got a strong aerial game, so that’d be an option we look into,” he said.

“It’s a bit of a challenge for us, but I thought the guys competed really hard for those last two quarters. (Rhett) Bazzo and Young were really competitive, and I thought they did a good job.

“We’ve got some options that we’ll work our way through, and like any team, having one of your best players (out) is hard to replace, but we’ll find a way.”

Duggan, who stands at 186cm, said he and 2024 first-round draftee Bo Allan (191cm) could also be options for McQualter to turn to in the absence of Ginbey.

“It is difficult for sure. At times throughout the year, I’ve played a little bit taller before Rhett came into the side. Brandon Starcevich is back now, he can also play tall and small for us,” he told The West Australian.

“Bo Allan, at times, went deep for us in that last quarter. We can spin the wheels a little bit there.

“We’ll have to look at how that looks. He (Ginbey) is a difficult player to replace. He’s probably been our in-form player for the year, along with Harley (Reid).

“We’re playing a really good system at the moment, we’re backing that in, we’re building evidence on that, so someone will come in and play that (role) for us.”