Oscar Allen has done his best to make the most of a bad situation during the AFL recess.

The exciting Eagles young gun recently revealed that he was forced to remain homebound for the first six weeks of the shutdown period while he lived alongside a family member who was deemed extremely vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19.

While some might lament the restrictions imposed on them in a similar situation, Allen decided to embrace life in isolation and used the time to get his body in supreme condition ahead of the resumption of season 2020.

“The first initial six to seven weeks I was actually staying with a family member who was a high risk category person,” Allen told Sport FM’s Sports Drive program.

“I was basically in full lockdown and only leaving the house to train and I was training on my own for the first six weeks.

“It was obviously a pretty difficult time with the uncertainty around everything, but in the end for me family was the most important thing.

“I had a terrific set-up; I had a full home gym there and I could use the gym at home 24/7 and get the best out of my training. I just had to sacrifice going out and training with other blokes because family came first for me in that situation.

“I have recently moved out of home, so now I’m training with one player at the moment. I’ve been mixing it up over a couple of sessions, but at the moment Jarrod Brander is the main player that I’ve been working out with over the last couple of weeks.”

Allen said the disappointment of missing out on the 2019 finals series after playing 21 games during the home and away season inspired him to hit the gym with purpose throughout lockdown.

The 21-year-old conceded it was not so much a niggling knee injury that saw him fall out of the starting 22 ahead of the club’s September push, but a minor drop in output that he put down to fatigue.

“It wasn’t so much that my body was letting me down, it was that combined with a bit of a dip in form towards the end of the season,” Allen said.

“But I’m realistic; I’m a younger player and although it was disappointing it gives me room to grow and see what I need to improve on in terms of my durability throughout a whole AFL season.”

Having resumed full training after a pre-season hernia setback, Allen said he was champing at the bit for footy to return.

The West Perth product said he would do whatever it took – even living interstate for an extended period of time – to participate in the 2020 campaign.

“Obviously different guys have different family circumstances, but I just want to play footy,” Allen said.

“It’s been a really tough year for a number of people throughout the whole community, so I think bringing footy back and giving people something to do would be a really positive thing.”