West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has revealed the Eagles could persist with an Oscar Allen positional change to the backline after the captain bizarrely lined up on Mabior Chol to begin the contest against Hawthorn on Sunday.
Allen has been out of form to start the season, kicking just four goals in six games, and has been plagued by media intrigue into his contract future, with Round 7's meeting with Hawthorn the first Allen has had against the Hawks since his catch-up with Sam Mitchell led to off-field furore.
Managed in the Round 6 clash against Essendon, Allen made his return at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, where he would take a spot in the defensive 50, and eventually have moments oddly matched up on small-statured Hawk Nick Watson.
McQualter believed that Allen's efforts were solid despite his uncertain moments.
"It was his first full game back for a while. I thought he had some really nice moments, and then some moments where he looked like he hadn't played back for a while, which is to be expected," McQualter said.
"But I think he was pretty solid. I know Chol got a couple of couple of clear jumps at the ball, which is hard. You don't want 'Marbs' to be able to get that, but thought there were some good signs.
McQualter admitted that the Eagles could look to persist with a backline position for Allen.
"Yeah, potentially, we're open to it. We're just going to work our way through it with 'Oz' and our team," McQualter said.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said that the move had caught him by surprise, but found reasoning behind the surprise move.
"Moving Oscar to make sure he can keep all his young talent on the field made sense to us. We were obviously a little bit shocked by it," he said.
As Hawthorn remain one of the frontrunners for Allen's talents if the West Coast skipper was to leave, Mitchell was queried on the Allen positional move but avoided divulging into any thoughts on the opposing team.
"I'm very much focused on Hawthorn and our season. I won't be looking at what the opposition do, that's up to them," Mitchell said.
"We don't play West Coast again so I'm not too concerned about the way they line up."
West Coast defender Brady Hough was also trialled in a positional change, playing a full game through the midfield. The 22-year-old was more than serviceable in the 50-point defeat, collecting 23 disposals, three clearances and laying six tackles.
"He's a really good player, and I think there was always potential that Brady was going to become a mid," McQualter said post-game.
"A little bit through opportunity, a little bit through Tim Kelly going out late in the week. We just thought it was an opportunity for Brady to grow his game. I thought it was a pretty impressive performance for his first full game as a midfielder.
"We know how competitive Houghy is and if he can become a full-time mid for us that'd be a great result."
West Coast have slumped to 0-7 on the season following the Hawthorn loss, but host the 2-5 Demons in a prime opportunity to nab their first four premiership points of the season in Round 8.
