WEST Coast coach Andrew McQualter is "really confident" the club will secure young star Harley Reid on a long-term deal, but the future of co-captain Oscar Allen remains up in the air.
Reid has returned from a trip home after suffering a season-ending ankle injury, with the midfielder walking laps on Thursday as speculation swirls about his future beyond the final year of his contract in 2026.
The 20-year-old's management has presented an option to West Coast that would keep him at the club for a further two seasons, with an option for a nine-year extension beyond that.
With negotiations continuing, McQualter said Reid's actions this season had given him confidence that the No.1 pick would remain with the club beyond his current contract.
"I'm really confident Harley will be here. I've spoken about this all along, every day Harley turns up to work, he's incredibly invested in this team and this club," McQualter said on Thursday.
"So I'm really optimistic that Harley will be here. I love working with him and hopefully will work with him for a long time to come.
"All I can judge on is behaviour … and I've spoken about this a lot, the young man is really invested.
"He's working hard to make us become better, to get himself better. He cares about the group, cares about the club. So they're signs that point to me that he's really invested."
Asked if his confidence was in reference to Reid seeing out his existing contract or remaining with West Coast beyond 2026, McQualter said: "I'm talking for a long time".
The coach said he had not paid attention to media reports that rival clubs had tabled their own contract offers to Reid worth more than $2 million a season, and he was only focused on what the Eagles were doing.
He said the game was quickly moving towards a player earning that eye-watering sum, however, as total player payments continue to increase.
"It's all relative. I think the understanding of the TPP and where it's at, money's different to what it used to be," McQualter said.
"When I played, I've spoken about this, I got paid $48,000. So if you're asking me, would I have taken $2 million, the answer is yes, I would have.
"Was I worth it? No. I think that's pretty obvious. But I think that's just where the game's trending. It'll happen eventually. Someone will be that player.
"There was a time where no one was a million-dollar player, and that broke a record. So that'll just be what happens, and it'll keep moving like that in the future."
On the future of Allen, McQualter said the club remained in the dark about where the key forward would be playing next season, with the free agent widely expected to seek a move to Brisbane.
"We speak to Oscar regularly. We're in contact, we're working with Oscar's management," McQualter said.
"We're still not clear where it'll be, but we're working really hard to try and make Oscar a player here for a long time.
"The job of a coach is [to have] two eyes on the present and one eye in the future.
"So I don't how many eyes you've got, but somehow you've got to be able to do that as a coach and list manager. That's the job. You have to be able to forecast, but you have to live in the present as well."
The Eagles look set to take on the Western Bulldogs on Sunday without key defender Harry Edwards after the much-improved big man left the track early on Thursday with a foot injury.
McQualter said young defender Reuben Ginbey could be handed the task of taking on 208cm forward Sam Darcy after impressing on Adelaide star Riley Thilthorpe, with in form big man Aaron Naughton the other option.
