Tuesday's Questions and Answers (20.10.2026)

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Suffering from dry, tired, irritated eyes? Don't let dry eyes win.

SPEAKER_2 (0:04)

Use Sustain Pro. It hydrates, restores, and protects dry eyes for up to 12 hours.

SPEAKER_1 (0:09)

Sustain Pro, Triple Action Dry Eye Relief.

SPEAKER_2 (0:13)

Walden University is where working professionals like you get the W. With Walden's Tempo Learning, which is available in select programs, you earn your degree at your own pace. No set weekly deadlines, no rigid schedules. Gain practical skills through real world scenarios. Learn from faculty with real world experience. And count on support from your very first class all the way to your career. Walden University, set a course for change. Ready to start? Visit waldenu.edu today. Certified to operate by SHEV.

Mark Duffield (0:47)

Time for some questions and answers on the show. A lot of you have been sending through some good thoughts and questions. 487 736 736 That is the text line.

Don't be afraid to give us a call either. On the bar under the open line if you want to. 13 12 55 is that number. Paul Heath.

Paul Heath (1:05)

Duff, not he was first off the rank today. So, Morning Duff, supporters and some media have all said the Eagles should delist and pay out Matt Owes. What reasons do you think the Eagles have to not delist him?

Mark Duffield (1:16)

I think sometimes clubs don't want to admit they were wrong.

Paul Heath (1:19)

Okay.

Mark Duffield (1:20)

So, Matt came because there was a good contract on offer, and there was good money on offer, which means they've invested a lot in him.

And so, if you shift him now, you're basically saying, oh, yeah, no, we shouldn't have done that. That was over investment in a guy that didn't have what we thought he had to offer for us. Matt Owes has had a nice, solid AFL career. He was a valuable player at Carlton. He probably maybe overcooked his contract price a little bit at the Blues, which is how he ended up here in the first place.

And he played some footy in his first season at West Coast, and he was reasonable in some of those games. But he ended up back in the Waffle. His age profile says that he's not going to get any better, and they need players now who are going to get better, who are going to develop, and are going to shift the needle for them. So you can't have a guy who's Matt's age running around in the Waffle when he's not likely to get any better, and he's not serving any purpose for you. And let's not forget that he's basically a pressure forward, and they've turned a half-back flanker, Tom Cole, into the player that plays that role. So that tells you that they didn't have Nick Watson, Silo Rioli, Hayden Ballentine, and Michael Walters running around ahead of him. They've basically turned Tom Cole into a pressure forward, and they've brought Milan Murdoch in from the Waffle to play the pressure forward role. So, I think the point that West Coast have to get to with Matt Owes is that they have to acknowledge that whether it was a mistake or not to bring him in, don't double down on a mistake by leaving him there. Acknowledge that the list spot is more important than, you know, sort of honoring the contract. Make sure he gets his money, or whatever money he's entitled to under the contract. Make sure he gets that. So you have technically honored your end of the bargain with him. And then, you know, move on, and free up the list spot, and however you want to fill that list spot with, or whoever you want to fill that list spot with, you have it free. And to me, the list spot is more important than, you know, honoring a deal with Matt Owes, that Matt Owes isn't going to be able to live up to, because whatever money they're paying him, he isn't earning at the moment, running around in the waffle, and he hasn't been in their best 23 for a little while now.

Paul Heath (3:54)

Yeah. So he's basically 30 years old at the start of next season, 19 games for the Eagles so far, and just the nine goals.

Mark Duffield (4:03)

So 19 games over two seasons?

Paul Heath (4:04)

Over two seasons, yep. 16 in his first season, and three last year, or this year. Yeah.

Mark Duffield (4:09)

So I think, you know, sometimes you just got to cut your losses.

Paul Heath (4:13)

Yeah.

Mark Duffield (4:14)

And I think the Matt Owes situation is one of those situations. I would place a much higher value on the list spot than I would on any footy that Matt Owes is able to play for you over the next couple of years. And the salary cap issue, I don't think, is urgent, because they have a young list. There will be a time in a couple of years' time when they're battling to sign or re-sign Harley Reed, or they're re-signing Willem Dersma, or they're re-signing Job Shanahan, or they're re-signing Cooper Duff Titler. Then, they will need salary cap space. But right now, I suspect they would have salary cap space. And there would be, in all likelihood, just bringing in another young player who wouldn't be costing them a lot in salary cap space anyway. So I think it's a pretty clear path ahead of them.