If there is a lesson to be learnt from the current situation with Oscar Allen at West Coast, it is that you have to choose your leaders wisely.
After the retirement of Luke Shuey at the conclusion of the 2023 AFL season, the Eagles were on the lookout for someone, or in this case, some two, to usher in a new generation at the club. They needed fresh faces, and renewed hope. They needed to plan for the future and required players ready to lead them there.
Injuries and poor list management had left the club with a list that was… well, it was less than stellar, and despite having the number one draft pick, West Coast were absolutely bottoming out.
Whilst it retained several high-quality players on the list, and those who had remained loyal to the club – Jeremy McGovern, Elliot Yeo – the decision was made to anoint co-captains for the 2024 seasons. With that, Liam Duggan and Oscar Allen became the 12th and 13th captains of the club.
Were they the right choices?
Did the Eagles fully explore what this meant for the club, or what it meant to the individuals being bestowed this honour? And it is an honour – make no mistake. Did these players willingly accept the roles, or were they shoe-horned into them?
Or did the club look at this as a way of shoring up the future of the two players by enshrining them as part of not only the club, but as part of the lore of footy in WA? Footy is religion in Western Australia – captaining West Coast is like being handed the Holy Grail.
With news coming through that Oscar Allen is now meeting with opposition coaches, it is hard to look at his role as captain of the Eagles right now with anything but contempt. He is someone with one eye on the door, entertaining offers to play elsewhere in 2026 whilst attempting to provide leadership and guidance to a young team desperately in need of it. He has taken on a responsibility at the club, shook the hands of those who offered it to him, accepted the commitment that comes with it, only to backhand them via his actions.
How could you possibly follow this guy into battle right now?
How could you look across the change rooms, look at your captain, and possibly think he would bleed for the jumper when he is eyeing the door?
The answer is simple – you couldn’t, and it makes Allen’s position as a leader as close to untenable as you’ll find.
He is not the first to look elsewhere whilst in a position of leadership, and he likely won’t be the last. However, he is the current, and with that comes scrutiny.
Leigh Colbert jumped ship at Geelong as captain, after injury in 1999 prevented him from playing a game. He suited up in 2000 wearing a North Melbourne guernsey, and spent the next six seasons as a Kangaroo.
Peter Moore was Collingwood captain over 1981-82 up until the Pies sacked the legendary Tom Hafey. After being made a bit of a scapegoat by the board, Moore decided to move on, and started the 1983 wearing Demon colours. It was at Melbourne that he would go onto win his second Brownlow Medal.
And then there is Jezza.
Alex Jesaulenko was the captain/coach of Carlton in the glorious year of 1979. But as of the start of 1980, he was wearing St Kilda colours, after… you guessed it, a falling out with the board. The Carlton board and egotistical cock-ups… name a more iconic duo.
However, this situation with Allen is markedly different. This is a captain actively shopping himself to opposition teams three games into the season. It is a slap in the face to the club he represented. And the club that stood by him while Allen both developed into a good forward, and staggered through the injury-interrupted 2024 season.
In truth, Allen has had one good personal season at West Coast – the 2023 season,where he kicked 53 goals.
And now, he looks to do a runner?
This is the man leading out your club?
This is the man you settled on after looking the list up and down?
This is the man that was deemed one of the best two leaders of the group?
Holy shit…
The media tells me that Hawthorn are in the box seat to land Oscar Allen. The media also tells me that Hawthorn are in the best position to secure the services of Harley Reid and Zak Butters, as well. A nice little haul for the Hawks if they can get it done, and as a Hawthorn supporter, I should be chuffed about it.
However, my thoughts continually drift to what makes a player great. They drift to those who have stuck it out and been part of the reason a club rises once again. They drift to loyalty, to hard work, to stubbornness in a positive way, and they drift to whether I actually want my team to be involved with the poaching of a club captain. Sure, he is a great talent, but what does his willingness to sell his team down the river say about him. Do I want that for my team?
West Coast are struggling. They’ll likely continue to struggle. And the only real way you come out the other sides of those periods is by bringing high-quality people into the club who are on board and want to genuinely be part of the solution – not just another problem waiting to arise.
I thought Oscar Allen would be one of those players for West Coast. I hoped that he would be the player they could look to, at 26, as one of the pillars of their team for the next five or six years.
But I was wrong.
Oscar Allen, it turns out, is not in it for the Eagles. You have to ask if he ever was. And if he is genuinely looking to play elsewhere in 2026, then the club should get on the front foot, start looking for the best possible deal now and be done with him.
This weekend, there should be just one captain running out to lead the West Coast Eagles against the GWS Giants. His name is Liam Duggan.
Oscar Allen is a leader in name only, from now on.
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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