West Coast have elevated former Hawthorn champion and new recruit Sam Mitchell into the leadership group without even having played a game for the club.

West Coast looks set to unveil boom recruit Sam Mitchell in a unique western derby showdown with arch enemy Fremantle on Saturday at Western Australia's mid-western coastal town Geraldton.

A strong performance from key forward Jon Patton has highlighted a 33-point point AFL pre-season win by Greater Western Sydney over West Coast in the NSW Riverina.

The AFL's pre-season is a mix of phoney war and true blood where teams test their players and tactics to see what hits and what misses.

• EXCLUSIVE

Ace West Coast Eagles recruit Willie Rioli has suffered a sickening setback to his plans for an emotional AFL debut early into the new AFL season.

• COMMENT

"The siren is about to go. "The Eagles need a goal to win.

The new 60-000 seat stadium at Burswood could be empty for the start of the 2018 AFL after talks between the WA Football Commission and the Barnett government stalled.

Former West Coast Eagles footballer, Ben Russell Sharp, 30, has pleaded guilty to armed robbery and drug trafficking in the County Court before blaming his descent on a culture of drug use at the AFL club he joined as a teenager in 2004.

15,000 LEDs walk into a stadium, and 60,000 spectators light up.

Rory Lobb has revealed how close he was to moving back to Perth before re-signing with the GWS Giants.

Young bookends Jack Darling and Tom Barrass have re-confirmed their commitment to the club by signing contract extensions.

Promising young midfielder Liam Duggan has suffered a summer hit in his hopes to win a spot in a star-studded West Coast Eagles midfield.

Two of the more interesting signings of the AFL trade period are set to step right up in the responsibility stakes at their new AFL clubs ... without having yet played a game for them.

Former Hawthorn skipper Sam Mitchell is set to be parachuted into West Coast's leadership group, while Shannon Hurn is expected to retain his role as captain.

Troubled former West Coast champion Ben Cousins is back in court again on Friday for an outstanding drug charge.

Emerging Adelaide utility Mitch McGovern is looming large in West Coast and Fremantle recruiting sights before a football has even been kicked in anger in a new AFL premiership race.

West Coast superstar Nic Naitanui has a made giant leap on his long road to recovery from a knee operation, running for the first time since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.

• UPDATED

Mystery surrounds an expletive-laden social media rant, aimed at Fremantle and attributed to their former player Shane Yarran.

Former West Coast Eagles star Ben Cousins has avoided a jail sentence after pleading guilty to a string of charges in Armadale Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon.