Oscar Allen to return against coach who wants him
Justin Chadwick |
All eyes will be on Oscar Allen this week as the West Coast skipper fronts up against the coach who wants to recruit him.
Restricted free agent Allen issued a public apology earlier this month after it was revealed he had met up with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell.
Hawthorn are keen to recruit Allen at the end of the season, and the star forward is also being heavily chased by Brisbane.
Allen conceded that it was a bad look for a captain of a club to meet up with a rival coach, and there’s sure to be plenty more chatter about his future given West Coast face Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
“We’ll just manage it as a normal week,” West Coast coach Andrew McQualter said.
“(We) understand the situation, but Oscar is a leader of our footy club, and we’ll support him.”
Allen was rested from Friday night’s two-point loss to Essendon in Perth.
The move raised eyebrows, given it was only round six and it was a winnable game for the struggling Eagles.
Allen has been struggling for form with just four goals to show from five games this season, and McQualter defended the move to rest him.
“It’s three games in 13 days. Every team in the competition will have players that can’t play all those three games,” McQualter said.
“So Oscar, we made a decision for the longevity of this season that he has a rest this week, and he’ll be fine next week.
“It (his knee) is all good. He’s doing well. His GPS numbers are good, and he’s going well.
“We’ve just got the wide lens on it and I think it was a smart decision by us all (to rest him).”
West Coast posted an AFL record-low 77 contested possessions when they lost to Carlton by 71 points last week.
But it was a far different picture against Essendon, with West Coast winning the contested battle 119-117 on the way to almost pinching the win.
However, clearances are still a big problem for the Eagles, with Essendon winning that stat a whopping 37-22.
West Coast’s best clearance player Elliot Yeo (ankle/knee) is still five to six weeks away from playing again, meaning there are no quick fixes for the Eagles.
“It is a big challenge in our game at the moment,” McQualter said of the clearances.
“Although we look at it through a few different phases – not just the one phase of clearance – when it’s that big a gap it is a problem we need to get to work on.
“But it just makes the game a little bit harder when you’re on the back foot and having to attack from behind the whole game. So we’ll we need to get that up closer to a positive result.
“I think it can definitely be fixed within the next period of time, this year.
“Yeo helps. He’s a pretty special player, but he’ll be a little while away.”
AAP
