{"id":94111,"date":"2025-08-25T07:22:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T07:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/94111\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T07:22:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T07:22:27","slug":"oscar-allen-west-coast-eagles-co-captain-informs-club-he-wants-to-head-to-brisbane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/94111\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar Allen: West Coast Eagles co-captain informs club he wants to head to Brisbane"},"content":{"rendered":"

West Coast\u2019s co-captain Oscar Allen has told the club he wants to be traded to Brisbane.<\/p>\n

And the Eagles have said the club will \u201cconsider its position\u201d and \u201cwork through the next steps\u201d when the free agency window opens on October 3.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old is understood to have informed the Eagles of his decision at exit meeting on Friday, after agonising over Brisbane\u2019s offer for some time, but ultimately believing he had no option.<\/p>\n

Hawthorn was also in the race, but pulled out late season, believing the Lions were in the box seat to secure the talented forward.<\/p>\n

The Brisbane deal is longer – five to six years – and bigger in salary than West Coast was prepared to offer, and is expected to hit the AFL\u2019s band-one compensation sweet spot.<\/p>\n

That means the Eagles will secure the first two selections in the national draft, having already locked in pick one by finishing last.<\/p>\n

The knowledge that the Eagles would be adequately compensated was believed to be an important factor in Allen\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

Allen grew up a fanatical West Coast supporter and was honoured to be captain, but told officials he wanted a fresh start and the Lions were the best option for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe West Coast Eagles confirm that Oscar Allen has advised the club of his intention to explore his options as a restricted free agent,\u201d the club said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Head of list management and recruiting, Matt Clarke, said the club would consider its position in the free agency window.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring a respectful and engaging end of season meeting with our coach Andrew McQualter, head of football John Worsfold and myself on Friday, Oscar informed us of his intention to explore free agency,\u201d Clarke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Oscar is a restricted free agent, we retain the right to match any offer made to him by another club and Oscar understands that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will work through the next steps in this process as they unfold, assess our options and make a considered decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s contract expires in October when he becomes a restricted free agent, meaning the Eagles can match any offer from the Lions.<\/p>\n

But the band-one compensation adds a complex layer to the Eagles\u2019 willingness to match the Lions\u2019 offer or let one of their favourite son\u2019s shift to another club.<\/p>\n

Band one is the highest form of compensation a club can receive for losing a free agent, taking into account players whose deals rank in the top five per cent of all player contracts, and other factors such as age, the length of the agreement and its guaranteed financial value.<\/p>\n

The compensation usually comes in the form of a draft pick immediately after their natural first-round selection.<\/p>\n

The Eagles have asked for priority assistance this trade and draft period, having won only 11 games since 2022 entering Saturday night\u2019s final round clash with Sydney.<\/p>\n

Allen, who shares the captaincy duties with Liam Duggan and played his 105th and likely last game for the club in round 14, ahead of knee surgery while he recovered from calf and Achilles issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly, I haven\u2019t signed the contract with the club. Negotiations have kind of broken down to a certain extent. I\u2019m in the same boat as everyone else,\u201d Allen told 94.5FM this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably another, I suppose, complex way to it is I\u2019m a restricted free agent, so what that means is, whatever contract, if I was to accept the contract elsewhere, West Coast has the right to match that contract as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there\u2019s still a lot of water that can go under the bridge because, for instance, everyone\u2019s saying that I accept a contract elsewhere, West Coast can say, \u2018Oh, we actually want to match that contract\u2019, and you\u2019ll stay contracted to West Coast going forward.<\/p>\n

\"OscarCamera IconOscar Allen is set to leave the Eagles. Credit: Daniel Carson\/AFL Photos\/AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there\u2019s a lot of stuff still to be figured out, and a lot of stuff that\u2019s kind of out of my control as well. This is where managers are really important because they can look after the situation. For me, it\u2019s their job to know everything that\u2019s going on, so there\u2019s plenty of water, as I said, to go under the bridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think I\u2019m lying to them when I say I\u2019m not sure what\u2019s going on. We\u2019re genuinely still trying to figure things out, but that\u2019s where it sits now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still six weeks for myself and the club to have communication or to agree with a deal elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said he was not aware of potential compensation impacting the club\u2019s negotiations with Allen and the club remained in constant dialogue with the 26-year-old\u2019s management.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still working through it. He\u2019s a restricted free agent and we understand the position of where that lies within the industry, but we see Oscar as a required player,\u201d McQualter said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve worked really hard this year [to keep him] and we\u2019ve been in constant dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to play anything out publicly. That\u2019s not the way we\u2019re going to operate as a football club. We\u2019ve got really good people in place working through that and it\u2019ll take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OscarCamera IconOscar Allen\u2019s season ended in round 14. Credit: Paul Kane\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Asked if the prospect of a prized No.2 pick as compensation has clouded the club\u2019s negotiations, McQualter said: \u201cNot that I\u2019m aware of\u201d.<\/p>\n

Allen has long been linked to the Lions, with a reported lucrative long-term deal on the table as the premiers look to fill the forward-line void in the wake of Joe Daniher\u2019s retirement last year.<\/p>\n

Should he depart, Allen would become just the second serving Eagles captain to leave the club following Chris Judd\u2019s defection to Carlton at the end of 2007.<\/p>\n

The West Perth product praised Eagles fans for their understanding while he weighed up his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support from West Coast fans has been lovely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never met someone in person who\u2019s had a go at me. Everyone\u2019s been really supportive and lovely, so I\u2019m thankful to them for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interest of Brisbane and Hawthorn in Allen was reported exclusively in The West Australian, with the key forward later plunged into controversy when it was revealed he had a meeting with Hawks coach Sam Mitchell just a day after the winless Eagles\u2019 defeat to Fremantle in the first 2025 western derby.<\/p>\n

Allen fronted the media the following Thursday to express his remorse.<\/p>\n

\"OscarCamera IconOscar Allen addressing the media after news broke of his meeting with Sam Mitchell. Credit: Kelsey Reid\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

That triggered an outpouring of support for Allen, believing he had done nothing untoward.<\/p>\n

Eagles CEO Don Pyke reportedly had a game of golf with Chad Warner over the summer, while the Dockers were reported to have put the same player and his partner up at Crown during last year\u2019s bye.<\/p>\n

Adam Simpson, the Eagles\u2019 most recent coach before McQualter, revealed that he had met with 50 players from other clubs \u201cminimum\u201d over 10 years.<\/p>\n

Geelong coach Chris Scott said it was a \u201cnonsense\u201d to suggest captains were not allowed to talk to opposition clubs about their playing futures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it a good look? Oh well, the people who don\u2019t like it I reckon don\u2019t really understand the system that well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would argue anyone who played footy before 2000 hates it and anyone who started playing footy after 2010 is probably okay with it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Coast\u2019s co-captain Oscar Allen has told the club he wants to be traded to Brisbane. And the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[638,64,63,588,85,7067],"class_list":{"0":"post-94111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-sport","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-west-coast-eagles"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}