West Coast midfielder Clay Hall says he is delighted to see Elijah Hewett back in competitive action another off-season spent dealing with injury interruptions.

The explosive 21-year-old, who played only 34 games across his first three AFL seasons amid a persistent battle with his body, dealt with a calf problem in the early stages of the summer before being sidelined by a fresh quad issue on the eve of round one.

The Eagles resisted the urge to hand Hewett an immediate senior recall after he got through a WAFL practice game last week, and he backed up by again appearing to get through the official season opener for their reserves — a 65-point loss to Perth on Good Friday — without any issues.

Hall said he was “so glad Hewy’s back on the park.”

“He’s obviously had a few years of some really serious injuries that have taken him out, so just to be able to go out and play footy with him, one of my good mates . . . is great,” Hall said.

“He’s one of those players that can pop up every now and again and make people go ‘wow’. We love Hewy and what he brings to the team.

“I hope he doesn’t stay down here for too long, as with any of the other boys trying to get back into the side.”

Bailey Williams — who has now strung together four consecutive games in the WAFL after a summer interrupted by a groin problem — was also impressive against the Demons, winning 34 hit-outs and kicking two goals.

Hall said the new ruck rules suited the 201cm Williams to a tee.

“I think he can really push for an AFL call-up if he keeps jumping the way he is at the moment,” Hall said.

“He’s so predictable, he doesn’t go for anything silly. Whatever us mids want, he puts it there.

“He’s also grown so much from a leadership point of view, telling us some patterns that will put us in good stead to either get the ball to our forwards or (set up) repeat stoppage.”

Despite spending much of the summer training on the wing, Hall figured exclusively as an inside midfielder in the loss to the Demons, gathering a team-high 26 disposals and laying five tackles.

Hall said his discussions with West Coast’s coaches around pressing his claims for the senior side had not left him feeling pigeonholed into one specific role.

“There’s no reason I can’t go out onto that wing or potentially come into the side as a tagger,” he said.

“Guys like Harley (Reid), Tom McCarthy, Tim Kelly, when they go inside, they’re so damaging with their ball use. I’d love to be a bit like that.

“On the defensive side, I model my game a bit on Jack Graham, I just love how tough he is and think that I could really be someone like that in the future.”