'There's over 100 names': Sam Mitchell responds to backlash around meeting with Oscar Allen
Hawks coach Sam Mitchell has addressed the controversy around his private meeting with Eagles co-captain Oscar Allen.
The out-of-contract forward is weighing up his future, with a move to Hawthorn or Brisbane during free agency reportedly on the cards.
With the Hawks having the bye at the end of last month, Mitchell and his wife were in Perth holidaying and took the opportunity to meet with Allen about recruitment — a practice he said is a common occurrence.
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Sam Mitchell responded to the fierce criticism Oscar Allen has faced in recent weeks. Nine
After being found out, the news sparked intense reaction, with Allen forced to publicly apologise for the situation.
Speaking to Nine's Footy Classified, Mitchell was surprised with how the drama unfolded.
"It's interesting," he said.
"I listened to [Geelong coach] Chris Scott's comments and I thought he was spot on: You can talk to everyone else's players but no one can talk to yours. That's the general feel.
"Even [Hawks skipper] James Sicily said he would talk [to other clubs].
"So, it's a part of the game. There're free agents [and] movement is more regular now.
Oscar Allen and Harley Reid leave the field at half time during the round one AFL match between West Coast and Gold Coast. Paul Kane via Getty Images
"Particularly if you're thinking about moving states — clubs is a big deal but states is very, very big — you have to get as much information as you can.
"And [meetings] happen regularly, you guys don't know about them, and quite often the player still stays.
"So, it doesn't mean they're leaving just because they're meeting with other people."
Allen was reportedly unhappy with West Coast's initial offer for him to re-sign and, therefore, was exploring his options.
Given Allen's responsibility to the Eagles as co-captain, he faced public backlash for meeting with a rival club.
"I certainly regret the public narrative and the public nature of it, and that it blew up into what James [Sicily] called 'a storm in a teacup'," Mitchell said of what Allen was subjected to.
"These things happen, they happen fairly regularly and the fact that it all came at once on one player felt unfair on him, and I was disappointed for him that that happened and that I was a part of that."
In discussing Hawthorn's thinking around ramping up its pursuit of Allen, Mitchel gave an insight into the club's approach to recruitment and list management.
"We have every player on every AFL list and you go, 'Here are all the greens — all the players that we think could help us - here are all the oranges — maybe, we don't know enough about them - and here are all the reds, (who are) probably not for us," he said.
"There's over 100 names that come out green and there's a dossier on each player about whether they are interested, when their contract is up, who their management group is.
"Then [player acquisition manager] Jarryd Roughead's job, and the rest of list management, they go and ask questions of all of the greens."
