West Coast have shot down reports they held a crisis meeting at their headquarters to decide the future of coach Adam Simpson and chief executive Trevor Nisbett.
And the struggling AFL club have been dealt a further blow after scans revealed Tom Barrass has suffered a back fracture, ruling the star defender out for the rest of the season.
The rumour mill went into a spin on Thursday when some of West Coast's senior figures and board members started arriving at Mineral Resources Park.
It came on the back of increasing pressure on both Simpson and Nisbett.
Simpson is contracted until the end of 2025, while Nisbett still has one more year to run on his deal.
West Coast (1-17) are mired to the bottom of the ladder on the back of a club-record 16-match losing run, with a growing amount of fans calling for change.
The Eagles have backed Simpson to stay on as coach and they released a statement denying the function at the club was a crisis meeting.
"The West Coast Eagles wish to clarify an erroneous media report suggesting that a crisis meeting of the board is being held at Mineral Resources Park today," the statement said.
"Some of the club’s executives and directors are engaged in a leaders lunch in a club function room with senior management of our corporate partners.
"The leadership luncheon is an annual event.
"Some guests at the function have also been wrongly identified in photographs as being club directors."
West Coast face fellow strugglers North Melbourne (2-16) at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
A big loss to the Kangaroos would heap further pressure on Simpson, but a win would give the Eagles hope of avoiding the wooden spoon.
It was initially expected that Barrass and Jeremy McGovern (concussion) would be fit to return for that match.
But both were notable absentees when the team was released on Thursday evening.
West Coast have confirmed that Barrass, who fell heavily on his shoulder and neck two weeks ago, is battling a compressed fracture in his back that is set to rule him out for the rest of the season.
McGovern is still experiencing concussion systems after copping an accidental boot to the face two weeks ago.
Captain Luke Shuey (hamstring) will also miss the match, but Elliot Yeo (hip) is a chance to return.
