West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has opened up about the tough decision to drop Jamie Cripps, saying it doesn't signal the end for the premiership forward.

Cripps will play in the WAFL for the first time since 2014 after being dropped ahead of Sunday's AFL clash with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.

News of Cripps's axing came on his 34th birthday and he will now suit up for the Eagles' WAFL side in Sunday's home match against Swan Districts.

Cripps was West Coast's leading goalscorer last year with 24 majors, but has kicked just 4.5 from five matches this season.

The 277-game veteran has paid the price for goalless efforts against Sydney and Fremantle over the past fortnight, with McQualter making the tough call to drop Cripps.

"Pretty hard decision if I'm being really honest," McQualter said on Friday.

"Crippa has been such a valuable contributor to our team for so long. But (he's been) just a little bit down on form in the last couple of weeks.

"We've given Crippa some clear instructions on what he's got to go away and work on, and being the proud person he is I'm sure he will."

Cripps' one-year contract expires at the end of this season and his axing has raised doubts about his future at the rebuilding Eagles.

McQualter predicts there is still more football left in Cripps.

"It's a disappointing result for this week, but there's probably not much more to it," McQualter said.

"He'll go back and play and I'm sure we'll need Crippa throughout this year without a doubt.

"Like most players in this situation, he was disappointed. But he understood.

"He understands the last couple of weeks he hasn't had his best games of football. So he'll go away and he'll work on it, and he'll be fine."

In a change to their usual routine, West Coast trained on Friday morning just hours before their scheduled flight to Melbourne.

It's a move that has been backed by West Coast's new high-performance manager Phil Merriman, who spent five seasons at Fremantle as well as stints at Melbourne and Hawthorn.

"We just thought for where our group's at, if we can try to get an extra session per week it will be really valuable," McQualter said.

"It's our first go at it today.

"Speaking to Woosha (Eagles football boss John Worsfold), West Coast have tried every different thing over the years.

"There's no perfect method, but from a medical point of view this is no problem at all."