Former Eagles Assistant Coach Tony Micale says the on-field leadership at West Coast is not good enough following a disappointing Derby defeat on Sunday evening.
The Eagles slumped to a 38-point loss to their crosstown rivals, putting them on an 0-3 win-loss record for the year and firmly solidifying their place at the bottom of the ladder.
Co-Captain Oscar Allen was one of West Coast poorest performers, with many speculating noise from trade rumours had an impact on his overall performance.
Rival captain and key defender Alex Pearce completely extinguished any impact Allen could have had, holding him to one disposal in three quarters.
In the final quarter, Allen was shifted down back to cover the absence of injury-stricken star defender Jeremy McGovern and a subbed-off Harry Edwards- where he took three touches, a mark and a tackle.
Speaking following the 60th edition of the Derby, Micale has questioned West Coast’s on-field leadership but also admits player recruitment has a lot to answer for.
“The concern that we talk about with the Harley Reid situation is that the leadership of West Coast just isn’t good enough, is it?” He told SportFM.
“You hear different comments made even by the coaches and the coaching group and so on, but in all honesty and all due respects to them, it came up a couple of weeks ago about these people having an aura about them.
“Oscar Allen’s shown a lot of promise. He’s promised a lot, but really, I guess when you go back and I know his career’s been injury riddled, is it how much has he delivered so far? I guess a lot of that is he hasn’t been able to string enough games together to produce his best.
“He looked lost yesterday. To see him finish up having to go back and play that key role in defence, and that leads you even further and deeper to delve into West Coast and what they’ve done in the last few years is their recruiting.
“When you look at that list yesterday, there was one player, one player only, and I don’t think I even need to mention his name, but as a standout, as a potential up and coming player, that they’ve added to their list.”
An out-of-contract Allen has been linked to trade rumours early in the season, with the likes of Brisbane and Hawthorn reportedly prepared to pursue and make offers for the key forward.
And with emerging key forward Archer Reid having a strong showing in the Derby with two goals, seven score involvements and five marks, West Coast’s key forward stocks have some depth.
Micale draws parallels to previous Nat Fyfe trade talks years ago, suggesting trading Allen for high draft picks may assist West Coast in their rebuild.
“Let’s turn the clock probably to when I even first started on this program five or six years ago and all the talk then around then was should Fremantle trade Fyfe. and now we’re talking about the same thing,” he said.
“Let’s project it now. We’re six years further down the track and Fremantle have now got their foot on the till. If they had a traded Fyfe out at that particular time let’s face it, they would have had another two quality young kids around then that potentially would have been in Fremantle’s team.
“When you look back on history and what it’s telling you is that there isn’t any doubt in the world that at 26 years of age they should cash in on Oscar Allen, and in my opinion, Harley Reid with it with the attitude that he’s displaying at the moment.
“Potentially between him and Allen you’ve got four first rounders, maybe five and then you’re then you’re on your way.”
IMAGE: AFL Photos