Oscar Allen (born 19 March 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for and co-captains the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). He made his debut in round 16 of the 2018 season against the Greater Western Sydney Giants at

Perth Stadium Perth Stadium, currently known as Optus Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Burswood. It was completed in late 2017 and officially opened on 21 January 2018. The s ...

Junior career

Allen is from

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. He played junior football a
Whitford Junior Football Club
part of the West Perth junior district), but also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. As a junior, he played as a small defender, before a growth spurt at 16 meant he started to play key-position roles. Allen joined

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September ...

club West Perth in 2016. He initially played at colts level. At West Perth, Allen played as an inside

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, a centre-half forward, a centre half-back and a ruckman. He played for his state as co-captain in the 2017

AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...

and won the Larke Medal as the best player in the first division after kicking 11 goals over four games. Allen said he was "really excited" about the award, but it "wasn't something that went to ishead". He played as a centre half-forward, but was named in the Under 18 All-Australian side as a

full-forward Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals. The Coleman Medal is awarded to the player, often a full-forward, who has kicked the most goals in an Australian Football League seaso ...

, confusing WA coach

Peter Sumich Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

. Allen was lauded as a possible early pick in the 2017 national draft after his performance. He was compared to former St Kilda captain

Nick Riewoldt Nicholas Fredrick Riewoldt ( ; born 17 October 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the first draft selection in the 2000 AFL draft. He was the ...

by his West Perth coach Bill Monaghan, and to

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

forward

Jake Stringer Jake Stringer (born 25 April 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Western Bulldogs from 2013 to 2017. Stringer was selec ...

. Allen played two reserves matches with West Perth, where he played with his older brother Angus. He also played two senior matches to give him experience at a higher level.

AFL career

After speculation that West Coast would take Allen with their first selection (pick 13) in the 2017 draft, he was eventually selected by the club with pick 21. He arrived at the Eagles with a

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

stress fracture, which Allen believed was character building. Forwards coach

Jaymie Graham Jaymie Wayne Graham (born 6 February 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Kalgoorlie, where he played for the Mines Rovers Football Club, Gr ...

said that senior players were impressed with his work ethic. On debut against the GWS Giants, he accumulated seven disposals at 100% efficiency, two marks and three tackles. Allen singled out his smother on Giant

Matt de Boer Matthew de Boer (born 10 March 1990) is an Australian rules footballer with the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). After representing Western Australia at the 2008 AFL Under 18 Championships and being named ...

and watching

Nic Naitanui Nicholas Mark Naitanui (; born 4 May 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was born in Sydney to Fijian parents, and his family moved to Perth, Western Austra ...

take a flying mark as highlights. Allen played a defensive role in his AFL debut with West Coast, but said that he was happy wherever coach

Adam Simpson Adam Simpson (born 16 February 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer who is the current premiership coach of the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). A left-footed midfielder, his playing career for spanned fro ...

played him and that he was sure he would play as a forward at some point.

Personal life

Allen has two brothers: Gareth, a

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

player who won a bronze medal for Australia at the

2010 World Lacrosse Championship The 2010 World Lacrosse Championship was held between 15–24 July. This international men's field lacrosse tournament organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse took place in Manchester, United Kingdom. This was the third time that t ...

in Manchester; and Angus, who plays for

West Perth Football Club The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia. West Perth competes in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW) and is the oldest exi ...

's reserves. He also has a sister who works as a physiotherapist. He was educated at

St Mark's Anglican Community School St Mark's Anglican Community School is an independent Anglican co-educational primary and secondary day school, located on an site on St. Mark's Drive, in the northern Perth, Western Australia suburb of Hillarys, Western Australia, on the for ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Oscar Living people 1999 births West Perth Football Club players West Coast Eagles players Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia East Perth Football Club players