West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen's meeting with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell came as a surprise to the Eagles.
But chief executive Don Pyke insists there's nothing unusual about the Eagles skipper meeting with a rival coach.
Hawthorn (4-0) are enjoying their bye this week and Mitchell headed to Perth and met with Allen, who is a restricted free agent at season's end.
Last year, Mitchell met with Tom Barrass and Josh Battle and later recruited the key defensive pair.
Allen meeting with another coach -- a day after he was kept goalless and had just four disposals in the Eagles' loss to Fremantle -- appears a bad look on the surface.
But Pyke indicated the Eagles were unfazed.
"It's obviously news to us that that may have occurred," Pyke told SEN radio in WA.
"But I think we're working in a world now that's changed from times gone past.
"I don't think it's unusual for clubs to meet with players and if that is the case, then clearly we'll keep talking with Oscar about his position at the club.
"We'd love to obviously keep him here and we're working towards that with him and his management.
"That came to bear overnight, I guess, and we'll work through that as we do with everything."
Pyke wouldn't be drawn on whether, as co-captain, Allen should speak to his teammates about his meeting with Mitchell.
The 26-year-old has also reportedly attracted interest from the Brisbane Lions, Collingwood and Melbourne.
The Eagles are desperate to keep their home-grown captain, who is a superb key forward at his best but has been affected by injuries.
"Both parties would like to get a deal done and that's always a good start when you're negotiating something," Pyke said.
"If Oscar wants to be here, we'd love Oscar to be here. It's really just down to those terms and we've been in communication with Oscar and his management for a while on that.
"So we're optimistic but we appreciate that free agency throws up a whole range of things for players to consider and some of those are clearly beyond our control because I can't speak for how other clubs may see or value Oscar.
"But clearly for us, he's the captain of our club, we value him really highly and we'll keep that communication up with him and his management."