West Coast football boss Gavin Bell insists Oscar Allen has “nothing to be ashamed of”, insisting his club will continue to support its co-captain amid a form lean patch and free agency speculation.
Allen, who remains unsigned beyond this season and faces a free agency call, has been in the headlines over the past week after a meeting with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell became public. It led to an awkward press conference where Allen addressed his situation and revealed he was “embarrassed and ashamed” when he fronted teammates.
Speaking on SEN WA Mornings on Tuesday, Bell insisted the club had “moved on” from last week’s drama, but remained supportive of Allen.
“Those that know Oscar, he’s an emotional and sensitive guy and very caring of those around him. I think just (in) the moment he used that word (ashamed) – and that’s not something we feel he should feel – but we’ve talked to him about that,” Bell told SEN WA.
“We understand he might be slightly embarrassed and disappointed that whatever happened got into the public arena. But from our perspective there’s nothing to be ashamed of and we’ll just continue to support Oscar.”
Asked how the co-captain’s mood around the club had been amid the speculation and subpar form, Bell said Allen had been “quite positive and optimistic whilst, like the other senior players, disappointed they’re not impacting games they would like to”.
But Channel 9 chief football reporter Tom Morris suggested Allen was still “feeling a bit unloved”, primarily because the Eagles haven’t put forward, in his eyes, an acceptable new contract offer.
“Well, I’ll tell you how Oscar Allen’s feeling about it – and I’m not sure if this is the Eagles’ intention or not – but Oscar Allen feels that West Coast doesn’t want him. That’s how he feels at the moment,” Morris told SEN Breakfast on Tuesday morning.
“He’s embarrassed at Sam Mitchell having a pizza with him at Allen’s house hours after the derby got out, but he knows his teammates don’t actually care. Other players around the league don’t see this as a big deal at all.
“Despite what Don Pyke said publicly, which was ‘nothing to see here’, he let Allen know privately in no uncertain terms that he didn’t approve of what he did. So Allen is feeling a bit unloved in that sense. He’s also feeling a bit unloved because West Coast haven’t come to the party with a long-term deal.”
Veteran WA journalist Kim Hagdorn also reported on Sportsday WA Allen had the support of his teammates. He also suggested the players had “lost faith” in senior Eagles officials and the club’s board and that “a massive divide” had developed.
Despite the Hawks’ interest – punctuated by Mitchell’s meeting – Morris suggested Brisbane remained “ahead in this race” to sign Allen.
“They (the Lions) first made contact with him last October, they’ve been red-hot on him the whole way through, long-term deal,” Morris said. “They’ve got a good history of rehabilitating players who’ve had injury issues across the journey – and they’ve got a hole (in the forward line) to fill.
“Hawthorn are also interested, maybe not quite to the same level as Brisbane, but they’re very interested. Melbourne are very interested, but I mean, Allen wants to go – if he does go – to a premiership contender, someone in the window. And Brisbane fits that bill.
“All signs are pointing to – if he does leave West Coast – Brisbane are very much in the box seat.”
Despite the recent conjecture around his future, Eagles on-baller Jack Graham confirmed Allen had the support of the club’s playing group to remain co-captain.
“We just get around him. He’s a great person, a great teammate and we love him,” Graham told reporters in Adelaide on Tuesday morning.
“That stuff always happens in football and as long as we’re there as a football club and mates to support him, that’s the main thing.
“We back Oscar in. He’s our teammate, he’s a great friend, he’s a great leader.
“We’ll just put our arms around him and support him, and that’s all we can do.”
The Eagles, who’ve finished 17th, 18th and 16th in their previous three seasons, sit on the bottom of the AFL ladder with a 0-4 record and the worst percentage in the competition (51.9%) after Round 4 under new coach Andrew McQualter.
Bell said his club knew coming into the season it had “a lot of work to do”, but denied it’d hit its lowest ebb.
“We’re transitioning our list. The last two years, we’ve got 20 new players into our squad. We’re a young team — we were the youngest on the weekend by a fair margin and a fair degree of games experienced the Giant had over us per player,” Bell told SEN WA Mornings.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve hit rock-bottom, but what I would say is we acknowledged we’ve got a lot of work to do, we’re exploring our list and we want to build a team that’s going to play finals in the future.
“There is going to be a bit of pain along the way, we understand that and I think we’ve been fairly open with that through our discussions through the media and even internally.”
Graham said the club’s leaders were working hard to turn West Coast’s fortunes around and would not be sidetracked by off-field issues as pressure mounts on the underperforming club.
“Everyone’s got their say. They can say whatever they want,” he said.
“As a leadership group, we come together, we try our arses off.“We’ll reunite with the group, the younger group and lead from the front.”
