West Coast midfielder Elijah Hewett racing to be fit for final round clash against Hawthorn

West Coast midfielder Elijah Hewett is pushing for a final round recall but the Eagles admit he has a ‘few hurdles’ to clear before the weekend.

The 22-year-old has not played at senior level since West Coast’s round 16 loss to Carlton and has played just six AFL games this season having struggled with form and fitness.

Despite his struggles the Eagles opted to re-sign Hewett on a new four year deal in July with the club positioning him as a key part of their future.

Hewett picked up a cork in their WAFL win over Subiaco and missed their win over Peel at the weekend with high performance manager Phil Merriman hopeful he will be fit for this weekend and a possible return against Hawthorn.

“Elijah’s cork wasn’t able to turn around quickly enough for last week’s game, which shows the severity of it,” he said.

“He still has a few hurdles to get over to play this week, but he’s tipping everything he can into being available.”

It comes as veteran forward Matt Owies’ season looks to be over after picking up an MCL strain in the win over the Thunder.

“Matty unfortunately had a player fall across his knee on the weekend and wasn’t able to continue playing,” Merriman said.