ACCORDING to West Coast coach John Worsfold, revenge will be served neither hot nor cold at Subiaco on Saturday night. It won't even be on the menu.

Asked if the bitterness from the Barry Hall haymaker that knocked out Eagles defender Brent Staker had ended, as Paul Roos hoped, with the apology the Swans coach left on his voicemail in the days after the game, Worsfold pursed his lips and said: "Yes". Asked if he thought the Hall punch would be a factor on Saturday night, Worsfold said: "No".

And so, with Hall spared the ire of the crowd and the attentions of the Eagles players by the final week of his suspension, it seemed the heat had been removed from a potentially tumultuous instalment in a great recent rivalry.

But there remains one smouldering ember from that sombre night at ANZ Stadium - the heavy criticism the Eagles received for failing to "fly the flag" after Hall floored Staker.

While the concept of an eye for an eye may be outdated in modern football, the lack of reaction to Hall's hit by the Eagles has been attributed to everything from a lack of courage to the subconscious uncertainty of players whose spirits had been crushed by the tough regime imposed after the off-field indiscretions of Ben Cousins and others.

So will the sight of a red and white guernsey - even without Hall in one - stir the blood of players whose honour has been questioned? Again, it is not a view shared by Worsfold, who claims most of his players simply did not see Hall land the sickening blow.

"There weren't too many people who would have seen it live," he said. "I have not worked out a way to instil that vision into the players yet, so they can see what they don't see. It think it was unfair criticism, but people can make their own judgement on it. The criticism can be backed up with a narrow-minded view of it and that's fine. We as a group attack it in a different way."

Not only will Hall be missing, so will the two Eagles players who did try to confront him after the Staker punch. Adam Hunter, who fell over as he went to remonstrate, has a knee injury. Beau Waters, who suffered a gash near the eye after chesting Hall at quarter-time, was suspended for two weeks for a head-high bump on Shane O'Bree during the 100-point loss to Collingwood on Saturday.

Staker is expected to play, despite a run of poor form. Ruckman Mark Seaby, forward Ashley Hansen and midfielder Sam Butler are all in contention to return for Waters and injured forward Josh Kennedy.

The suspension of Waters for what was a line-ball incident might once have drawn a furious reaction from the Eagles. Yesterday, perhaps indicative of a club that seems resigned to its lowly status in the post-Chris Judd/Cousins era at least for one season, there was no outcry.

"Things change, times change, and I'm prepared to do that," said Worsfold of the tough rules on high contact. "It's not just our players - I'm keen to see the AFL as a game be the best game it can be, and generally I'm very supportive of the rule changes. We all have to be able to change with the times."

Just how much things have changed at once mighty West Coast might be measured by their response - or lack of it - to the Swans on Saturday night.