“Ashamed”: Allen breaks silence on Hawks meeting

West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen has addressed his secret meeting with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell.

The 26-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of this season, met with Mitchell earlier this week, turning heads around the footy industry given his status as Eagles skipper.

Allen spoke reporters alongside head of footy John Worsfold at Mineral Resources Park to explain and apologise for the Mitchell catch-up.

He has confirmed that he will remain as the club's co-captain alongside Liam Duggan.

"I do feel remorseful towards our fans, staff, supporters," said Allen.

"I’m incredibly remorseful. I am going to continue my role as co-captain. Everyone fees like it’s the right thing to do. I feel I’m still the right man to take this club forward.

"I’ve turned off my phone and I don’t have social media at the moment but clearly it’s had a massive impact on our supporters and I’ve let them down. I’m keen to make sure this isn’t a distraction. We want to move past this."

Allen also addressed his own form which has been criticised early in 2025.

"I am out of form at the moment and I just want to play some great footy for this club that I love," he added.

"I’m not gonna get into specifics (about contracts). I will leave that to the club and my manager. We are out of form as a side and we have to change that from this weekend."

The skipper spoke to his teammates this morning and while he admitted it was difficult to face them, he is confident everyone can move beyond it and he can continue to lead the team next to Duggan.

"I addressed them this morning (playing group), it was difficult," he said further.

"I feel embarrassed and ashamed in front of the boys. My actions have become a distraction this week which is exactly what I don’t want for this group. I addressed that and now looking forward to the challenge this week.

"They’re incredibly supportive of me, they all say I’m the man for the job alongside 'Duggo'. On game day I feel like I’m a calming presence for the young players. I wouldn’t hold it against anybody if there was some bad feeling towards me.

"Clearly I’m completely focused on the footy club. This is the first time I’ve gone through anything like this in my career. Everything from here (contract wise) will go through my management, I won’t be involved.

"I don’t think you want a role of leadership it just naturally evolves within you. Alongside Duggo we compliment things well and we are in a good position to lead the club."

Worsfold says the club understands the free agency landscape and made it clear that there is no ill-feeling toward Hawks coach Mitchell.

"The players have been supportive of Oscar all the way through," the Eagles legend said.

"We understand the nature of free agency; this is not a unique situation. But the public nature of it we all acknowledge is not great timing. We learnt from it.

"Free agency is a real thing within the competition, players have a right to explore options to get the best situation for their career. This week there’s been players from other clubs meeting other clubs but unless its public… we just want to lay some foundations with Oscar.

"There is no gripe at all (with Mitchell)."

SEN WA Mornings host and veteran journalist joined Dwayne Russell after the press conference o provide his thoughts on the matter.

He believes this suggests Allen could well be on his way out the exit door given the Hawks or the Brisbane Lions, who are also interested, can offer him finals footy.

"Five weeks ago I would have said likely he will be at the club, now I would say it’s 50-50," said Duffield.

"That Jarryd Roughead came to town and then Mitchell followed him in, that tells you they think Oscar Allen is gettable. A club like Hawthorn or Brisbane might feel like they’re one player away from a flag, they can offer more than a club like West Coast.

"Clearly there’s still a lot of fan anger about this. They view it very differently to the footy industry. The unfortunate things is he is captain and it’s gone public. What people need to realise is that West Coast are not a long way on their contract talks because they’re waiting to see what might be available to them if they lose a restricted free agent and they’re waiting to see is Oscars body holds up. That’s how West Coast are viewing this situation.

"Allen is 26 he’s played one final and that means that if West Coast are five years from finals it makes Allen 30 when he plays his next final. For West Coast, a top 3 pick in the draft as compensation could be a consideration for them."

Duffield also commented on West Coast's captaincy situation.

"The way the fans will view it, taking on board their feedback, people think he should hand back the captaincy. I would say who is the alternative? Liam was made a captain for more than just being a good player. Who exactly do you want to be captain if Allen isn’t one of the co-captains?

"It’s clearly an uncomfortable position for the club to be in. It was clearly uncomfortable for Oscar to be in. He’s been a 'do-the-right-thing' player. Allowing this to become public is the big mistake here.

"I thought someone needed to speak and put the club’s perspective out and make clear what the position was going to be moving forward. I don’t see a lot of good options for West Coast in making Oscar step down. The right thing to do is that he goes a head in the role, plays better and they play better. When you're playing well nothing matters when you play badly everything matters."

The 0-3 Eagles are next up against GWS at ENGIE Stadium on Sunday.