West Coast Eagles young gun Harley Reid fined for striking Lachie Fogarty as Oscar Allen faces injury stint
West Coast star Harley Reid will be free to face Collingwood post the bye after escaping with a fine for striking Carlton defender Lachie Fogarty with an elbow in their 34-point defeat on Sunday.
It’s one weight off the Eagles’ shoulders, with spearhead Oscar Allen set to join a long and worrisome injury list for the embattled WA club.
Reid will also be breathing a sigh of relief, now available to return to his home state when West Coast take on the Pies at Marvel Stadium in round 16.
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The act was graded careless conduct, low impact and high contact, attracting a $2000 fine with an early guilty plea.
It was the lowlight of what was otherwise Reid’s best performance of the season, with 28 touches and five clearances in the wet, earning two coach’s votes.
Reid’s input is likely to be vital against the high-flying Pies as well, with co-captain Allen facing time on the sidelines with a leg concern, joining Jake Waterman, Jeremy McGovern and Elliot Yeo in the injury ward.
The Eagles were confident Allen had “avoided all the worst-case scenarios” on Sunday night after the spearhead went down behind the play, clutching his lower leg and struggling to limp off even with assistance from medical staff.
Coach Andrew McQualter revealed the club’s medical team suspected Allen had injured his plantaris muscle, which is a tendon in the back of the leg running from the knee to the ankle next to the Achilles Tendon.
The injury, often referred to as Tennis Leg, faces a recovery time anywhere between 12 days for a Grade 1 strain to at least eight weeks for a tear.
If Allen’s injury is on the severe side of the scale, it would all but end his season and could mean the Carlton clash was the last time the forward pulls on the blue and gold should he opt to explore free agency at the end of the season.
An update on Allen’s injury is expected from West Coast on Tuesday with the forward getting further scans.
