Player manager Colin Young is still holding out hope of sending Rory Lobb back to GWS despite being left “surprised” by Fremantle’s public comments about the situation.
Lobb still has two more years to run on his five-year Fremantle contract, which is worth about $700,000 per season.
Publicly, the Dockers are stating that Lobb is a required player, but it’s believed Fremantle would be keen to offload the 207cm big man due to his hefty salary.
But they will only offload him if they get a decent return.
Fremantle football boss Peter Bell threw a curve ball on Thursday when he went on Perth radio to say that Young had told him that the offer that came through from GWS was unlikely to get the job done.
But Young went on AFL Trade Radio on Friday morning to clarify the situation, saying that the Giants were still working on a deal that would satisfy the Dockers.
“This wasn’t going to get done overnight,” Young said.
“But at no stage did I say the trade was over. All I said was we have a bit of work to do and we’ll work through it.
“I’m a bit surprised, because normally Peter does a great job and he usually uses the code of silence during trade week.
“So I was a bit surprised about the content of information that he’s been talking about (on the) radio.”
Lobb played 74 games across five seasons for the Giants before heading home to WA.
Fremantle are believed to be willing to part with pick No.22 for Geelong defender Jordan Clark, but the Cats want the Dockers’ pick No.19.
Clark still has one more year to run on his contract, meaning Geelong has the option to play hard ball.
Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs are still locked in talks over fringe Bulldogs midfielder Patrick Lipinski.
New Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell is reportedly shopping around some of the club’s ageing stars in a bid to land a series of higher draft picks.
AAP
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