By Adrian Warren
October 4th 2008 @ 12:47am
Super 14 tipping now live for sign-ups. Join now and invite your mates..
---------------
O’Keefe decision expected by the weekend
Out-of-contract Sydney forward Ryan O’Keefe will reveal his intentions by the end of this weekend. The All-Australian half forward met with coach Paul Roos, who described their discussions as amicable.
Roos extends his Sydney commitment
With trade week looming next week, Roos said a decision needed to be made pretty quickly and the club had reiterated their desire to retain O’Keefe.
He said the Swans’ three-year offer to the in-demand All-Australian remained on the table and the club was not considering an increase.
A host of Melbourne-based clubs are chasing the highly-talented 27-year-old, with Carlton, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Essendon and the Western Bulldogs all believed to be interested.
O’Keefe offered no clue about his preferred club for next season as he entered the Swans’ best and fairest dinner in Sydney tonight, but revealed his decision was imminent.
“It’s getting sorted,” O’Keefe said.
“By the weekend, I will know.”
Roos said “a few clubs” had already informally checked with Sydney about O’Keefe.
Asked about Sydney’s latest offer to O’Keefe, Roos said: “It’s been ratified by the board and taken through the appropriate channels.
“That’s on the table and we’re hoping he accepts it.”
Roos said today’s meeting was a chance to catch up with O’Keefe, who has recently linked with manager Tom Petroro.
“I understand players’ point of view in terms of a contract, but what we basically said was at some point you are going to have to make a decision because if you do want to leave, I’m sure he doesn’t want to go through the pre-season draft.
“So it’s in his best interest and obviously the club’s best interest to get a decision as soon as we can.”
Super 14 tipping now live for sign-ups. Join now and invite your mates.
Free Email updates:
Our daily emails are only sent if there is content for the sport or that author. You can subscribe to multiple daily emails; or get the daily Roar email with all our content in it. We value privacy. More...
Loading ...
