West Coast midfielder Tim Kelly will celebrate his 150th AFL match when the Eagles face Melbourne on Saturday night.
The 30-year-old returns to the side after missing last weekend's clash with Hawthorn due to a toe injury, sustained when it was stepped on during a training session last Tuesday.
He was subsequently ruled out of the match against the Hawks, but coach Andrew McQualter confirmed on Thursday that Kelly would be back in the line-up.
"We will get Tim back into our side, we think he's incredibly valuable for our team," McQualter said.
"He went away to the WAFL a couple of weeks ago and worked on what he needed him to – we think he helps us a lot."
Kelly was controversially omitted from the Eagles' senior side earlier this season after a slow start, recording more than 20 disposals just once in the opening four rounds.
However, he had since earned a recall and notched 22 disposals against Essendon in his most recent AFL outing.
McQualter said he expected Kelly to draw the attention of Melbourne midfielder Jack Viney, who has embraced a tagging role in recent weeks.
"(Kelly) has almost faced it (a tag) in every game he has played," McQualter added.
"We will make plans around that and support our guys and have some levers we can pull."
The Noongar, Wongi and Yamatji man has been a consistent contributor since entering the AFL system as a mature-aged recruit with Geelong in 2017.
He was a revelation in his first two seasons at the elite level, polling 24 Brownlow Medal votes and earning All-Australian honours in 2019, before requesting a trade home to Western Australia.
While his form has fluctuated at times during his tenure with the Eagles, Kelly remains a crucial figure in the club's midfield and was crowned West Coast's best-and-fairest winner in 2023.
Meanwhile, McQualter also addressed reports emerging from Melbourne suggesting forward Liam Ryan could be open to a move to a Victorian club.
While he didn't rule out the possibility, McQualter emphasised Ryan's current commitment to the team.
"I don't know the answer to that," McQualter said.
"If I am an opposition club, Liam is a player that I'd like to try and get because he's an exceptional player.
"But I think if you look at the way that Liam is playing this year and look at the way he has trained, he is heavily invested in our team, he is probably chasing harder than anyone in our team every week.
"He is maxing out with his defensive efforts, which is what we ask of him, and we know the talent on the other side of the ball that he's got – he is incredibly invested."
The Eagles will also welcome back exciting young forward Tyrell Dewar for Saturday night's match.
