REPLACING one of the great forwards of the modern era is a huge ask, but Oscar Allen is confident he can step up for West Coast in 2023.
Allen, 23, missed the entire 2022 season due to a foot injury as the Eagles won just two games and finished 17th.
It was a campaign which proved to be Josh Kennedy's last after 17 in the AFL, his decorated career featuring 723 goals, a premiership, three All-Australian selections and two Coleman Medals among other honours.
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Allen, who kicked 28 goals in 2021, believes he can become a dominant AFL forward this year.
"I think I'm ready. You've got to have that confidence," he said on Wednesday.
"It's something that Jack (Darling's) done with JK. People talk about JK's record over a long period of time, as they should, but Jack's done some incredible things in his own right.
"We pretty much had two No.1 forwards for a long period of time so I'm looking forward to doing that with Jack in the future as well."
Allen expects to be ready for round one after resuming some full contact training prior to Christmas.
While he is excited about playing a bigger role alongside Darling moving forward, Allen hopes what he learned from Kennedy holds him in good stead.
"I loved playing with him and he was always such a calm, level head," he said.
"Sometimes you look around the room waiting for him to answer a question and he's not there so someone else has to step up and answer it, but I've really enjoyed working under him and I'm sure he'll help me in the long run with my footy."
The Eagles are expected to turn more to youth this year after their difficult 2022.
Despite its 2-20 season, Allen believes West Coast can turn its fortunes around quickly and play finals in 2023.
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"Really confident. You look at some of our list and the players that didn't have any impact on field or had minimal, I think it's really exciting," he said.
"You've gone from a stage where there's probably not a whole heap of expectation so you can let your shoulders down and just play as well and as hard as you can.
"Footy's a funny game, things change really quickly and you ride momentum and if we get some, I think we can make some real damage. Just looking forward to seeing what we can do as a group."
