Eagles skipper Oscar Allen finds his happy place

West Australian

2 days ago

West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen has found his mojo - it was hiding in the forward 50m arc all along.
Allen produced his best game of the season by kicking 4.0 in Sunday's 43-point loss to Geelong at Optus Stadium.
The 26-year-old kicked two goals in the second quarter and handed off another to help his team fight back from 29 points down.
West Coast closed to within six points early in the last quarter before Geelong piled on seven of the final eight goals of the match to run away with the 17.14 (116) to 11.7 (73) win.
Allen kicked 53 goals in 2023 to announce himself as one of the best key forwards in the competition.
But he was so out of form earlier this year that he was moved into West Coast's defence for games against Hawthorn and Melbourne.
Allen contributed strongly in those matches, and he expressed his desire to play wherever the team needed him most.
But the glint in his eyes was evident when he returned to attack in round 10 against St Kilda.
Allen kicked two goals in the upset win over St Kilda and followed it up with two goals against Adelaide.
Jake Waterman's season-ending shoulder injury meant it was up to Allen to lead the team's attack against Geelong, and he stood up in grand style.
"Look, we know how good a forward he is, but like I say always - the team will always come first for all of our players," West Coast coach Andrew McQualter said.
"So Oscar having that flexibility is a bonus. We shouldn't look it as a as a negative thing.
"It's a good thing for our team that he can play both ends of the ground, but he might have earned himself another week in the forward line."
With All-Australian Waterman out of action for the rest of the year, you can bet your bottom dollar Allen will stay in attack to help the likes of Archer Reid and Jack Williams continue their development.
"Archer and Jack are young. They're competing really hard, and they're getting some looks, but I think Oscar's experience there makes a big difference," McQualter said.
Harley Reid tallied 19 disposals, seven clearances and a goal against Geelong despite being heavily tagged by Oisin Mullin.
"I think he really had an impact on the game," McQualter said.
"(Under a) heavy tag, from the outset, he worked his way into the game and had some really pivotal moments.
"He's not going to have massive amount of touches when you get heavy tag like that, but he had some great moments that helped our team, for sure."
West Coast (1-11) will be back in action on Sunday when they take on North Melbourne (2-1-8) in a bottom-of-the-table clash in Bunbury.