Star West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has declared himself ready to go for the club’s historic season opener against Sydney at Optus Stadium.

Naitanui, 27, was put through his paces in an intense training session last Friday and will train at the new stadium with his teammates tomorrow before getting the final tick of approval for his long-awaited return from a knee reconstruction.

“I probably feel about 90, 95 per cent, but as good as I’m ever going to be,” Naitainui told Seven News. “I’m not going to go out there underdone and not having confidence I can play footy so I’m feeling ready to go.

“What we tried to do is mimic a game-like load and then try and do a little bit extra. You do have a little bit of protection once you’re out there playing, knowing that you can go through some of the adversity that you’d overcome in a game. To go out there and get smashed last Friday was enjoyable but it was really hard work as well.”

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Naitanui said the external pressure on him had not affected him and he tried to temper expectations around his performance.

“It’s still a gradual progression getting back into footy,” he said. “Being out so long you can’t be expected to turn it on first game back. Obviously I’ll go out there and aim to do that but we’ll just see how we progress in these first few weeks and go from there.

“The hype would be pretty big for any player, because it’s a new stadium, a new year. I’m really excited to play.”

Camera Icon Nic Naitanui has declared himself ready to play on Sunday. Credit: Megan Powell

Naitanui said West Coast were keen to make Optus Stadium a fortress in the way they had Subiaco.

He said they were keen to defy most of the critics who have the Eagles missing finals.

“We do have a lot of people who we need to prove wrong,” he said. “A lot of people have written us off before the season has even started.”