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Cox set to return for risky Eagles

Mr Dandalooa

Dean Cox should get a start against Port Adelaide at Subiaco Oval on Saturday after recovering from a serious groin injury.

Cox and protégé Nic Naitanui will lace up together for the first time this year only the third time the duo have played ever played together.

Coach John Worsfold wants his players to take some risks this week and to capitalise on their round-one win over Essendon, in which Naitanui was instrumental.

Worsfold is encouraging his players to take some risks in their preseason cup quarter-final against Port Adelaide on Saturday, as he tries to gauge the strength of his AFL team.

Worsfold said the club was full of “creatures of wanting to win” but said an important element to that ensuring players have a real go at taking some risks and showing the coaching staff what they can do.

“If they make some extra mistakes because they go for harder options then so be it, we’ll be encouraging them to do it,” he was reported saying by AAP.

“We have to find out ourselves where we sit.

“We don’t want to just play safe, we want to play some quick, risky football and see where we sit in that regard.

“Winning is certainly what we are going out to do, but not at all costs, not at the cost of potentially improving ourselves.

“If they get caught (running with the ball) then that teaches us something about those players.

“It’s about learning.”

Cox has not played since injuring his groin in round 15 last year, but Worsfold finally is confident he is ready to resume playing after completing an intensive rehabilitation program.

FootyGoss understands 23-year-old Beau Waters has recovered from his elbow injury that sidelined him for more than a year and minor knee surgery that grounded him for several weeks over the summer.

But Worsfold said the he may not get a start this week in a game expected to be played in 40-degree heat.

Andrew Embley and Matt Priddis could get a rest this week as Matt Spangher, Mitch Brown, Eric Mackenzie, and rookies Ashton Hams, Andrew Strijk and Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls could see game time.