THE future of injured Western Bulldogs star Scott West will be decided at the end of the season, coach Rodney Eade said yesterday.

Eade said he had not considered yet whether West, 33, would be asked to play on at the end of the year.

"We'll sit down at the end of the season, at the appropriate time, to talk about our list," Eade said, adding that West's absence had given other young players the opportunity to make their mark on the team. "Some players have stepped up this year in that role and it's marvellous that opportunities have been created and players have grabbed that," he said.

The Bulldogs coach said the decision that West would take no further part in 2008 came as a relief to the veteran midfielder, after he had spent much of this season trying to make his way back from the knee injury that he sustained in round six.

"His words were (that) once the decision was made, it made him feel a lot better. I think he was edgy (about) the way his leg was reacting to the workload and then not knowing what was happening, I think it was just the unknown," Eade said, adding that West would work off-field with the team for the rest of the season.

"He's going to be helping Leon Cameron with the midfield, working with the younger midfielders and certainly at stoppages as well because that's his forte."

Eade also played down the significance of a quad injury to young defender Tom Williams, saying it would not have a major impact on his side's finals campaign. "(It's) a bit of a blow, but people are making more of a kid who's 20 years of age and has played 19 games — I think it would have helped our structure, but having said that, he's only played seven or eight games this year and we've coped OK," he said.

Eade was pleased with the progress of young forward Shaun Higgins, who played his first AFL game last week after copping an ankle injury early in the season. "I think it was an encouraging first-up hit — no, he didn't dominate, but I thought it was a pleasing hit-out for him."