Eagles want skipper to stay despite talks 'breaking down'

Andrew McQualter says West Coast remains hopeful Oscar Allen stays despite the co-skipper saying talks had broken down

Oscar Allen in action during the match between West Coast and Geelong at Optus Stadium in round 12, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

WEST Coast coach Andrew McQualter says the Eagles have "worked really hard this year" to try and keep co-captain Oscar Allen at the club beyond 2025 after the free agent declared contract talks had broken down.

Allen is a restricted free agent at the end of this season and is widely tipped to join Brisbane in a deal that could net the Eagles a No.2 pick with band one compensation.

The key forward has previously maintained he was keen to remain with the club he has co-captained for the past two seasons but told Perth radio station Mix 94.5 on Thursday that "negotiations have kind of broken down to a certain extent".

"Contracts go through until the end of October, and that's when the free agency period starts, so there's still six weeks for myself and the club to have communication or to agree with the deal elsewhere," Allen said.

"Clearly, I haven't signed the contract with the club. Negotiations have kind of broken down to a certain extent. I'm in the same boat as everyone else.

"People think I'm lying to them when I say I'm not sure what's going on. We're genuinely still trying to figure things out, but that's where it sits now."

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McQualter said he was not aware of potential compensation impacting the club's negotiations with Allen and the club remained in constant dialogue with the 26-year-old's management.

"We're still working through it. He's a restricted free agent and we understand the position of where that lies within the industry, but we see Oscar as a required player," McQualter said on Thursday.

"We've worked really hard this year [to keep him] and we've been in constant dialogue.

"We're not going to play anything out publicly. That's not the way we're going to operate as a football club. We've got really good people in place working through that and it'll take care of itself."

Asked if the prospect of a prized No.2 pick as compensation has clouded the club's negotiations, McQualter said: "Not that I'm aware of".

The coach said that free agents moving from bottom clubs to premiership contenders remained a work in progress for the AFL, but he was understanding that player movement was "the nature of the industry".

Liam Duggan (left) and Oscar Allen after the R24 match between West Coast and Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on August 24, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

On premiership forward Liam Ryan, who has been linked to St Kilda, McQualter said the star goalkicker was a "contracted player and an important player".

"If you read every article about player movement at this time of the year, there's 500 players changing clubs, which we know it doesn't end up happening like that," he said.

"There's always good players like Liam that attract interest from other clubs, which we understand. But Liam will be with us next year."

Liam Ryan celebrates a goal during the match between West Coast and Adelaide at Optus Stadium in round 22, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

McQualter said there was potential for a final round debutant against Sydney on Saturday night after first-year defender Lucca Grego played well in the WAFL, but any decisions would be made after training on Thursday.

He said discussions had already started about expectations for the group during the upcoming off-season and what would be required for the team to come back better next year.

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"We're under no illusions that we have to come back better than we finished this year, and it'll be important for us that when we turn up to day one of pre-season, we're better conditioned than we are and we're more advanced than we are," he said.

"We've started our conversations around that, and the players are totally invested in it.

"[There will be] a little bit of just natural progression, that's where we're at, but that has to be with hard work.

"It's just clear that we need to work really hard, we need to improve all parts of our game, our program, we'll do a thorough review over the next few weeks and keep finding ways to improve."

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