Krakouer in familiar style

There’ll be no strategic surprises with the 137-game AFL player, coach Bill Monaghan said.

Monaghan expects the goal sneak to begin in his familiar role up forward, then work into the midfield where he famously dominated for Swan Districts in 2010.

The 31-year-old will wear number eight, formerly held by West Coast’s Mark Hutchings, who has joined East Perth as part of the club’s AFL alignment.

It’s a golden swap for the Falcons ” a Simpson medallist for a Simpson medallist.

‘He will play a combination of forward and mid ” early on it will be more forward than mid,’ Monaghan said.

‘When he gets fitter and more used to playing with us and used to our game style, then his time in the midfield will increase.

‘We can be patient; we’re not going to push him along.

‘We just need to make sure he’s available for as many weeks of the season as possible.’

He reaffirmed expectations Krakouer would play within a month.

The premiership coach said there would be no big changes to the West Perth game plan this year after a reinvigorated defensive style drove it to a flag in 2013.

But he expected a few tweaks throughout the season to keep the side improving.

‘We did things significantly different last year (compared with) what we’d done in my first four years,’ he said.

‘It’s not really a concern to us how many goals we kick’