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Eagles at war: Pyke's call for Allen to stand down sparks player revolt
SEN • April 8th, 2025 11:26 am
Veteran journalist Kim Hagdorn is hearing that West Coast CEO Don Pyke asked Oscar Allen to stand down as captain after his meeting with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell last week.
Allen’s secret meeting with the Hawks coach came as he weighs up his free agency decision at the end of this season, with Hawthorn interested in his services.
In the wake of the meeting becoming public, Hagdorn says that Pyke told Allen that the club’s board wanted him to stand down, but left the ultimate decision down to the 26-year-old himself.
With Allen reportedly having the backing of the club’s playing group, Hagdorn says the forward refused to relinquish his leadership role before fronting the media with Eagles head of footy John Worsfold where he expressed his remorse to the club’s fans and supporters.
As the players sided with Allen and the club’s board took the opposing view, Hagdorn believes there’s a massive divide emerging at Mineral Resources Park.
“I think the players have lost faith in what’s going on and they’ve certainly lost faith in John Worsfold and Don Pyke after how they handled Oscar Allen last week,” Hagdorn told SEN WA Sportsday.
“Don Pyke said, ‘That’s obviously news to us, that may have occurred’, well, the whole country knew that Sam Mitchell had met with Oscar Allen.
“Just closing on that, Don Pyke rang Oscar Allen last Wednesday and said, ‘The board want you to stand down, it’s up to you’. What sort of management is that?
“He quite rightly said (no), knowing full well the players were behind him. I was told the players said unanimously to Oscar, ‘You’ve got every right to explore your options, the club won’t give you a long-term deal, other clubs are offering it to you, go and explore your options Oscar’.
“So he said, ‘No, I’m not willing to stand down’. Then two senior players went to Don Pyke and said, ‘The way you’re handling Oscar is a disgrace. The players are up in arms and the club is to throw full support behind him or you’ll have more action from the players’.
“I think there’s a massive divide between Oscar Allen and the players with John Worsfold, Don Pyke and the board.”
Channel 9’s Tom Morris is also reporting that Allen is feeling ‘unloved’ by those in charge of the Eagles.
While the Hawks are clearly in the race for his signature following the meeting, Morris believes that the Lions still lead the race to land the 26-year-old this off-season.
“Oscar Allen feels like West Coast doesn’t want him. Allen is feeling unloved,” Morris told SEN Breakfast.
“I’m convinced the Lions are ahead in this race, they first made contact last October and have been red-hot on him the whole way through.
“They have a great history of rehabilitating players (who have injury histories) and they have a hole to fill.
“Hawthorn is very interested but maybe not to the level of Brisbane.
“Allen, if he goes, wants to go to a club in premiership contention.”
Allen and the 0-4 Eagles next face the 0-4 Blues in a big Gather Round clash at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon.
