In 2016, the Eagles shocked the footy world and brought in Hawthorn champion Sam Mitchell.

They craved his exquisite skills, his football brain, his leadership — his winning experience — and it worked wonders.

They got a year of leadership on field, then a year of assistant coaching where he helped the club win its fourth AFL premiership.

Fantastic result.

Or was it…

Little did they know, Sam Mitchell was a spy operating behind enemy lines all along!

Gaining intel, laying groundwork, planting seeds. Helping Tom Barrass in a drill, asking “how’s life, Tom?” Giving young Oscar Allen some handy advice, a friendly ear. “Do you like coffee, Oscar?” Sam probably said.

“I love coffee”, young Oscar may’ve replied.

Mitchell walks away with a wry smile, into the darkness of an empty Lathlain meeting room, calls the Hawthorn hierarchy and says — “the baby bird is in the nest”.

I’m being ridiculous, of course. Sam Mitchell wasn’t a spy. Probably.

But man, hasn’t that recruitment come back to bite the Eagles years later.

It hit a crescendo this week, with the coffee catch-up heard around the nation.

The drama, the intrigue! The reaction at times was as if that skinny cap had been served by Walder Frey at the Red Wedding. Nobody died here, but in footy, a secret meeting is about as sexy as a story gets.

The whole thing blew up, leading to Thursday’s admission from Oscar.

“I just want to offer my sincere apologies over the embarrassment of what happened over the last few days and weeks,” Allen said.

“I feel mostly remorseful towards our fans, players, support staff - I can’t imagine how you guys are feeling.”

The poor bloke looked like his puppy had just been run over.

Clubs and opposition players meeting in secret isn’t new – it’s rife throughout the AFL. For every coffee meeting, Nobu dinner or round of golf we hear about, there’d be 100 more we don’t.

Last year Liam Baker was vice-captain at Richmond – he met with West Coast and Fremantle multiple times. He’s now an Eagle. Chris Judd was captain when he left West Coast for Carlton.

This week, Adam Simpson revealed he’d met with an opposition captain when coach of West Coast, in an attempt to lure.

Let’s not pretend this is an Oscar Allen only situation. We might not love the way business is done in footy these days, but it’s reality.

Because Oscar Allen is a wanted man.

Hawthorn aren’t the only club backing up the money truck. Brisbane, Collingwood and Melbourne are just as keen.

West Coast have an offer on the table too. The years are fewer, the money is far less, and the terms of the contract are littered with clauses and triggers.

Oscar Allen wants to stay. He’s said it multiple times. But the significant gap in the offers has forced him to consider all options. He’s entitled to do that.

Regardless of how much you love your job, your workmates – if a rival business is coming at you with offers to nearly double your money – essentially set you and your family up for life – you’re at least taking the meeting.

As captain, Oscar should’ve been more careful. It’s a bad look for the leader of a club – particularly one mired in losing for the last few years – to be taking these meetings in a public nature. Perth is a small place.

A zoom call, a house visit, hell – a phone call - would’ve been the move. Or leave all of it to your manager, Andrew McDougall.

The captaincy part of this is intriguing from an Eagles point of view too. Do we think it’s odd the Eagles have essentially lowballed their skipper? Oscar Allen isn’t in good form, but in his status, age and capability, he’s a very important part of this rebuild. The offers so far would suggest otherwise, which makes you wonder, how badly are they trying to keep him?

If a deal with West Coast doesn’t get done, Allen will be a restricted free agent.

That means if he does decide to go to a new club – say Hawthorn – the Eagles will have multiple options.

First, they can match Hawthorn’s offer – the years, the money, all of it.

That would mean Allen either stays at the Eagles, or Hawthorn would need to facilitate a trade for him, or risk losing him. We saw this with Jeremy Cameron and GWS back in 2020, forcing the Cats to pay up.

Or, the Eagles don’t match, to let Oscar go, and receive free agency compensation. If the Hawks offer ticks certain boxes – for example high money early in the deal – the Eagles could receive band one compensation. This could mean the pick straight after theirs in the first round. If they finish last and get pick one, the Oscar compensation would be pick 2. Significant.

The last option is to meet market demand and sign their skipper tomorrow.

Right now, West Coast hold all the cards in this.

You can be annoyed at Oscar for his lack of discretion, be annoyed at Sam Mitchell for his brazen techniques, but branding Oscar Allen public enemy number one, dragging him over the coals, is like blaming your fat belly on the last Mars Bar you ate.