West Coast big man Nic Naitanui has avoided immediate surgery on his injured ankle, but the club can’t say when he will return.

Naitanui injured his right ankle against Collingwood on Friday night and scans revealed he had suffered syndesmosis damage.

West Coast football operations manager Craig Vozzo said the club needed to see how Naitanui progressed through rehabilitation before knowing whether he could play again this season.

“We’ve had a surgical opinion on it and various scans,” Vozzo said.

“At this point we have decided to treat it conservatively and we’re going to use our best efforts to avoid surgery.

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“At this point we’re not setting a return to play date because it will be really dependent how he proceeds through his rehabilitation.”

There were fears the injury would sideline the star Eagle for yet another finals campaign, after he missed the club’s premiership last year due to a second successive knee reconstruction.

The news isn’t much better for youngster Daniel Venables who has been ruled out for the year after suffering a heavy concussion.

The premiership forward hasn’t played since his head slammed into the Optus Stadium turf in round nine against Melbourne.

Camera Icon Daniel Venables was stretchered off the field by medics after a collision at Optus Stadium in May. Credit: AAPIMAGE

“With Dan, we’ve adopted a really conservative approach,” Vozzo said.

“He’s getting a lot better, fortunately, through each phase of his rehab, but we’re not quite there yet.

“We’ve decided, with Dan’s consent and after great discussion with him and his family, that we’ll put a line through this season to allow him to fully recover and concentrate fully on his health and get him back to being asymptomatic, which we are confident he will be.

“But the unfortunate thing is we’re not going to have Dan available to play, which is big for him as well as us. But it’s the best thing and right thing for his long-term health.”

Small forward Jamie Cripps will miss the next three games with a groin injury while West Coast are hopeful Liam Duggan (ankle) will be available in three weeks, Mark Hutchings (hamstring) will spend two more games on the sidelines and Nathan Vardy (knee/ankle) could play next week.