‘Absolutely ridiculous’: Premiership coach blasts Allen rest
Former premiership coach Paul Roos has slammed West Coast’s decision to manage skipper Oscar Allen for their Good Friday clash as “absolutely ridiculous” and “illogical”.
The club’s co-captain will not lead the side in the Eagles’ prime time clash against Essendon at Optus Stadium, with the forward managed after kicking just four goals in five outings.
It’s another bizarre twist early in Allen and the Eagles’ so-far disastrous 2025 campaign after the 26-year-old was outed for meeting with rival club coach Sam Mitchell to discuss likely free agency options.
A statement from Eagles general manager football Gavin Bell on Thursday read: “Oscar (Allen) has had a heavy workload and played more AFL minutes than any of our players, and we anticipated we would need to manage him in the near future. This week with back-to-back six-day breaks and following travel was the right time to give him a break to freshen up.”
However, Roos was left blowing up over the call on ABC Radio on Friday.
“I don’t get it. That’s just borderline ridiculous,” Roos said.
“I don’t know what is happening at the West Coast Eagles on the back of Jake Waterman’s comments, comments about them not training enough, performances like 77 contested possessions, the captain’s meeting with Sam Mitchell.
“It’s a club in complete disarray.
“It makes no sense and is completely illogical. He’s 26, in the prime of his career, he’s captain of the footy club, it’s a winnable game and we’re going to manage him. Absolutely ridiculous!
“I’ve never managed a captain, leader, or one of our best players in the team, and maybe I’m going to give them some leeway by saying maybe there’s an injury that could be worse by playing.”
Coach Andrew McQualter made a statement ahead of round five by dropping star veteran Tim Kelly alongside premiership defender Tom Cole, and many were left asking if the co-captain had been given a soft drop.
Allen currently sits two games shy of reaching the 100-mark at West Coast.
Roos also weighed in on where Harley Reid, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Thursday, should play in the line-up, suggesting he should be learning from the best every week.
“I would do exactly what I did with Jarrad McVeigh and put him on the best opposition player every week and say, ‘Harley, go head to head and learn how to get to where the ball is, you’re big, you’re strong, you win contested ball, follow Zach Merrett around,” he said.
“I want to see him play on Zach Merrett and at least break even with Zach Merrett.
“It’s a great formula for young players to develop really good habits, and Harley’s big-bodied, talented, really good contested ball. A great tackler as well so he’s got all the hallmarks.
“He may run out of steam and energy, but that’s okay. No problems at all.
“I’d love to see him come off at three-quarter time absolutely exhausted and get subbed out of the game with a 15 to 20 possession three-quarter time head-to-head with Zach Merrett.
“That’s what I want to see Harley Reid do.”