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West Coast captain Oscar Allen will return against Essendon, and he'll join a towering forward line also featuring Jake Waterman and Jack Darling.

West Coast's forward line will resemble the Land of the Giants against Essendon at Marvel Stadium in what represents coach Adam Simpson's biggest gamble of the year.

Eagles skipper Oscar Allen will make his long-awaited return from knee surgery in Sunday's game, joining the in-form Jake Waterman and veteran Jack Darling in attack.

The 196cm-tall Ryan Maric and the 201cm Bailey Williams have also been named in the 23-man squad.

Williams has played most of the season as a makeshift ruckman, but is now free to play forward after the recent return of Matt Flynn.

Even if Maric or Williams is named as the sub, it will still leave four genuine spearheads in the final team of 22.

"It can work," Simpson said on Friday.

"If it's Darling, Allen and Waterman predominantly in your forward line with a bit of Bailey (Williams) - it's definitely something we've got to look at at some stage to see if it works."

Simpson floated the possibility of playing Maric more on the wing or even in defence this week in order to accommodate the influx of big forwards.

Allen kicked 53 goals last year to stamp himself as one of the premier forwards of the competition, and Waterman has kicked 33 in 11 games this season to thrust his name into All-Australian calculations.

Whether Waterman can maintain his hot form following Allen's inclusion is a big talking point.

Simpson is confident the skipper's return will make the team more powerful.

"Oscar wants to complement our side and help us win," Simpson said.

"I don't think it's about Jake kicking goals, and he's really clear on that.

"I'm not worried about him winning the Coleman (Medal). I hope he's not either. It's about the collective."

Jayden Hunt's return from a toe injury means Andrew Gaff has been dropped for the second time this season.

Tall defender Harry Edwards goes out for Josh Rotham, while premiership hero Dom Sheed (hamstring) and Jai Culley (dropped) were also among the exits.

Former Hawk Tyler Brockman has earned an AFL recall for the first time since being charged with dangerous driving over an incident that left a lamp post flattened on May 4.

"He made a mistake, and he needs to suffer the consequences for that when the time's right," Simpson said of Brockman, who was goalless across six games this year before his off-field dramas surfaced.

"But within the four walls, we need to take care of him and try and get him a career that gives the club as much as we give him.

"The metrics we needed him to hit before he became available, he's done that.

"So that's the work ethic, the GPS profile we need from him, and the standards around the gym and that sort of stuff.

"And then there's some off-field stuff we're going to work on, and that will take years."

The Bombers have welcomed back ruckman Sam Draper, winger Xavier Duursma and defender Mason Redman, but forward Jade Gresham is out due to personal reasons.