RECALLED young gun Tom Barrass has "massive upside" and just needs to iron out the inconsistency in his game to cement a spot in West Coast's backline, teammate Jeremy McGovern says.
Barrass has earned a reprieve for Thursday night's crunch game against Geelong after being sent back to the WAFL following a shaky display in the round nine shocker against Essendon.
The 21-year-old had played the Eagles' previous eight games, after being overlooked for Eric Mackenzie in round one.
Both big men have been picked to face the Cats, perhaps opening the door for them – or McGovern – to help cover the absence of star spearhead Josh Kennedy (calf) in attack.
But at his best, Barrass' aerial ability compliments McGovern and the resurgent Elliot Yeo inside defensive 50, adding another dimension to West Coast's backline mix.
Barrass is ranked 7th in the AFL for intercept marks (2.9 per game) this year, only marginally behind All Australian gun McGovern (3rd, 3.5), according to Champion Data.
"We know what he can produce, he's got such a massive upside," McGovern told AFL.com.au.
"It's just (about) being a bit more consistent maybe with his performances."
Eagles coach Adam Simpson preferred Mackenzie to take on powerful Gold Coast star Tom Lynch two rounds ago, which might have been a reflection of Barrass' one-on-one defending this year.
The 194cm backman is ranked 59th in the AFL for defensive one-on-one contest losses (39.5 per cent) – compared to last season when he was 27th across the competition (21.4 per cent).
Barrass has directly conceded 21 goals in eight games, seven more than he did in his 10 matches last year.
The Eagles backline has been under the pump though, with West Coast conceding two more goals a game collectively (overall they give up 88 points per game) than last year as Simpson's outfit grapples with life without Nic Naitanui.
"It has been coming down there (into defence) a fair bit, but that's just the way it is," said McGovern.
"We've got healthy competition down there with our talls with 'Schoey' (Will Schofield) and Eric Mackenzie as well as myself, so there's a lot of pressure on the boys to perform each week – if we're not, we're under the spotlight.
"Tommy probably doesn’t have as much as room to move with his performances.
"If he's off for a couple of weeks there's so much pressure from underneath coming through."
While McGovern conceded the Eagles' backline had been beaten at times this season, their staunch defence has been the most reliable part of West Coast's football.
In round seven, the Eagles held Port Adelaide to 87 points from 68 inside 50s, and the Bulldogs scored only 61 points from 50 attacking thrusts the following week.
It showed West Coast's capability closing down finals-quality sides.
But with a 6-6 record and the red-hot Cats to come, time is running out for the Eagles to start firing on all cylinders.
"If we can play consistently I think we can (compete with the best), but we haven't shown that yet this year," McGovern said.
"It's fair enough all the criticism that comes our way.
"If you're going to play bad footy, that's what you've got to put up with – which we have – and we need to, not prove people wrong, but write our own script."
