The West Coast Eagles are calling on WA footy fans to dig deep to help the State’s Mid West rebuild a region torn apart this week by Cyclone Seroja.

Veteran forward Josh Kennedy said yesterday that he and teammates Jamie Cripps, Liam Ryan and Jack Darling — who all have family ties in the hard-hit towns of Northampton, Geraldton and Kalbarri — were united in their thoughts ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with Collingwood at Optus Stadium.

The club is developing plans to fundraise for the many WA families impacted heavily by the cyclone and the recent bushfires in the Perth Hills. and details for an on-line auction are expected to be announced soon.

“It’s just devastating, mate, and there’s obviously quite a fair bit of damage ... it looks like a bit of a war zone up there at the moment,” Kennedy said after today’s final training session before tomorrow’s clash with the Magpies.

“For a town like Kalbarri which relies so heavily on tourism, people had to leave at the peak of holiday time and then the town gets ruined as well. There are a lot of homes up there that were not built for a cyclone and not ready for a cyclone.

“A lot of people are safe, but a lot of people lost their homes, which is quite sad for all of us. The rebuild is going to take a long time, so hopefully we can get something going to direct some funds to the people in need and help in any way we can to get them back on their feet.”

Cripps this week expressed his sadness as he posted photos of his former family home in Northampton that had been reduced to near rubble.

Kennedy, who spent his formative football years in Northampton, said he felt deeply for his many family members and friends who had endured the cyclone ordeal on Monday night. He said the Eagles would by out to give the people of the region something to smile about tonight.

“It will definitely be nice to win for all of them,” he said. “It puts things in perspective, too. We can get consumed in this football bubble of ours, but there are bigger things in the world and right now those towns need a lot of help and as much support as a community in WA that we can give them.”