West Coast's prized recruit, ruckman Nick Naitanui, will miss the start of the 2009 AFL season with a knee injury.

Naitanui, snared by the Eagles with pick No.2 in last year's national draft, will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his knee early next week after experiencing soreness as his pre-season training load increased.

West Coast's club doctors hope that the 18-year-old will avoid long-term damage by having the surgery now.

"We see Nick as being a 10-year player for the club and we thought it would be best to address this issue now," football operations manager Neale Daniher said.

"We are confident of a full recovery and with Nick now expected to miss the entirety of the pre-season fixtures, we will look forward to him returning early in the 2009 season."

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