West Coast forward Oscar Allen made a successful return for the Eagles in their unofficial pre-season match against Port Adelaide.
After missing the entirety of 2022 with a foot injury, Allen’s three-goal performance in the eight-point win was perhaps a sign of things to come for the 23-year-old.
Having kicked 66 goals from 59 games since 2018, Nathan Buckley and Kane Cornes expect the key forward to go to another level in the 2023 season.
Cornes views the tall forward as an A-grader already while Buckley was even more bullish about what Allen could develop into on SEN Breakfast.
Buckley: “I’m a massive rap (on Oscar Allen).
“They’ve lost a champion in Josh Kennedy, and I reckon this kid, at 23 (will be great), he played zero games of football (last year).
“What do you see from him? In your eyes is he an A-grader, B-grader or C-grader? Where do you think we’ll be viewing him in a couple of years?”
Cornes: “I think he’s an A-grader, I was a little bit critical of the way West Coast used him in the 2021 season, he was a stop-gap.
“He was such a presence as a forward, but because of Darling and Kennedy and injuries they had to key position players and the ruck, they moved him all around the place. I just thought it stifled his development a little bit.
“But there were points there where he looked like the best young key forward in the game, so hopefully the service is there for him.
“I think he can kick 40 to 45 (goals) this year, which would be a significant result.”
Buckley: “I think he’s an out-and-out star, I reckon to miss last year – everything went wrong for West Coast – to see that squad and see them win only two games of footy, it made no sense at all.
“I can only imagine the scrutiny they would have been under over there, but Adam Simpson has such credits as a coach and the way he carries himself – I’m an admirer from afar – he needed to somehow cobble and pull that club together.
“But Oscar Allen alone coming back into that side is worth multiple wins.
“He’s an out-and-out star, I think in 12 months’ time – at the end of this season – I believe he’ll be in the conversation with the best forwards in the game.”
Cornes: “In the conversation for All-Australian do you think?”
Buckley: “I think at his best he’ll win multiple All-Australian berths … you need to be on some good service at the end of that.
“He’s 6 foot 6, he’s 97 kilograms, I think he’s got real aggression in the air, he’s smart on the ground, he’s a smart player.
“I think he’s going to be one that really comes through this year as an unexpected gun of the competition.”
Allen and the Eagles will continue gearing up for their Round 1 clash against North Melbourne when they face Adelaide in a pre-season clash on Friday evening.