West Coast forward Jake Waterman says the return of defender Harry Edwards to the track after his latest concussion has given him and teammates a timely boost.

Edwards shocked fans when he joined in for the main session at Mineral Resources Park on Wednesday, despite his future being uncertain after three headknocks this year.

The 25-year-old has not played since he sustained a third concussion in 71 days during the Eagles’ round nine defeat to Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, with many wondering if he would be forced to front the AFL’s independent concussion panel.

Edwards — who is contracted until the end of next season — is still listed as “TBC” on West Coast’s injury list on Tuesday, with high performance manager Phil Merriman saying: “We will be following a process to make sure we get the best care that Harry needs before considering what the next step in his football is going to be”.

When asked for clarification around the process for Edwards, the club says it was part of medical confidentiality, and they would not be commenting any further.

However, the signs were positive for the 200cm backman as he did a series of non-contact drills and ran for the first time in front of fans and media since he went down in the first quarter of the defeat to the Demons.

Waterman said they were unsure what the next step for Edwards was, but he was happy to see him out on the track and happy.

“I don’t know about the pink hat on him, but it’s good. He’s in really good spirits at the moment, so that’s the main thing for me as a mate, just seeing him happy again,” he said.

“He’s probably got a fair bit to play out bit of speculation, a bit of not knowing what’s going to happen next. Just fingers crossed for him — his health and wellbeing is number one for me as a mate.

“Seeing him smiling, having a laugh, and being involved in some capacity, and staying fit and healthy is good as a friend. We’d love to see him back out on the park soon, but I think there’s a fair bit of water to go under the bridge, so we’ll leave that to the processes at be and just pray for him.”

Waterman said Edwards’ inclusion on the track had lifted the spirits of the team as they prepared for Essendon at Optus Stadium on Sunday evening.

“He’s a pretty important player, a much-loved player, part of our group,” he said.

“Off the back of last year, he’s grown into a bit more of a leader, and he’s got a bit more responsibility in the group with his role, and unfortunately, we haven’t seen much of him this year.

“He’s definitely a team lifter that’s for sure, so having him out there, making a bit of fun out of him wearing the pink hat got me up and about a little bit, so I was happy he was out there.”

West Coast have a tough history with losing players to concussions. Last year, club champion Jeremy McGovern was forced to retire because of a series of head knocks, while Daniel Venables, Luke Edwards, and Brad Sheppard also had their careers cut short because of similar issues.