A West Coast Eagles premiership star has undergone surgery on Friday afternoon, after his rib injury failed to heal.

Jeremy McGovern had returned to pre-season training after his Grand Final heroics, where he played through the pain of broken ribs he picked up in the finals series.

But this week the 26-year-old told the club he was still experiencing pain in his ribs.

He underwent surgery on Friday afternoon, with a plate inserted over his ribs for protection.

According to 7 News, the star had planned to avoid going under the knife to allow his ribs to heal naturally.

But almost four months after the historic win, he has failed to recover.

McGovern is expected to be sidelined for at least two weeks.