West Coast Eagles co-captain Liam Duggan on impending Oscar Allen departure and off-season of change

West Coast captain Liam Duggan will be sorry to see close friends Oscar Allen and Liam Ryan depart the club, but is backing the Eagles’ aggressive off-season strategy.

Allen confirmed one of the AFL’s worst-kept secrets on Sunday, notifying the club of his intention to explore his free agency options with a desire to get to Brisbane.

Premiership forward Liam Ryan has also requested a trade this week despite the club maintaining its stance that he’s a required player.

Duggan admits it will be tough to see them leave the Eagles, but has no hard feelings personally.

“The boys have made calls, and whatever it is, Oscar has obviously been going on for a little while, while Liam was a bit more of a surprise,” he said on Triple M.

“At the end of the day, if they both part ways, you lose two mates that you’ve had for a long time.

“But the football club is in a pretty aggressive sort of state, and we’ve got to move on with what that is and wish those boys luck and on the other side, it opens up a couple doors for other players.”

One name in the Eagles’ sights is Brisbane premiership defender Brandon Starcevich, who remains without a deal at the Lions for next season.

“He is a star, he does everything right, he’s got the experience and has success, and someone like that would add a lot of value to our side,” Duggan said.

“I sort of try and be involved without stepping over the mark, you don’t want to frighten them off with being too forward.”

With Duggan likely to lose his co-captain, the 28-year-old said he would still be up for the challenge of leading the Eagles next year.

“I’m captain for now, October 31 is when my time runs out, but hopefully I get to go again, I’ll definitely have the hand up,” he said.

“It’s been a tough couple of years, but I’ll be better for it.”