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WEST Coast is bracing to lose key defender Mitch Brown after the unrestricted free agent indicated to the club he is keen to head home to Victoria.

Brown, 27, has been exploring his options since the season ended.

He was offered a new contract by the Eagles but his circumstances have been complicated after his wife Shae, an elite netballer, chose to move from her ANZ Championship club West Coast Fever to sign with Collingwood in the newly formed National Netball League.

He played just four games in 2016 after returning from his second knee reconstruction, which kept him out of all of 2015.

The key defender played all four games, including the elimination final, as a pinch-hit ruckman/forward in the absence of injured star Nic Naitanui.

The emergence of Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass as the mainstays of the Eagles' defence meant there was no room for Brown or 2014 best and fairest Eric Mackenzie.

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Brown nearly headed back to Victoria in 2013 following a lucrative offer from St Kilda but elected to sign a three-year deal to remain at the Eagles.

He played 19 games in both 2013 and 2014 but unfortunately suffered another ACL rupture in round one, 2015. He had his first knee reconstruction in 2008.

Brown was the Eagles' first-round pick (No.16) in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft, but has played just 94 games during an injury-ravaged 10 years in the west.

Brown's twin brother Nathan is currently at Collingwood but the restricted free agent has been linked with a move to North Melbourne and is understood to also be weighing up his options.

The Magpies are set to lose young defender Jonathon Marsh after he requested to be traded home to either WA club for personal reasons.