In demand Greater Western Sydney forward Jon Patton is in no hurry to decide his future, but Giants coach Leon Cameron remains confident his club can hold onto the vast majority of their young stars.
The Giants’ ability to retain their host of talented starlets has come under scrutiny again following a report in Thursday’s edition of The Australian newspaper that the Western Bulldogs could pay Patton up to $900,000 a year when he comes off contract at the end of next season.
The article said Patton’s agent Paul Connors had already fielded serious interest in his client from two clubs.
Patton has taken little notice of the speculation surrounding his future.
While he hasn’t pledged himself to the Giants beyond next year, he suggested he was happy and settled in Sydney.
“It (the speculation) has kind of been in one ear, out the other,” Patton said on Thursday.
“I’ve still got three games to play for the rest of the year, so I just want to get through the rest of the year and then I’ll speak to my manager in the off-season.
“I’ve got till the end of next year, so I’ve got a long time to work out some things and I love Sydney, so it’s a good place to live.”
Patton felt he owed GWS for sticking with him after injuries limited him to just 10 games in his first two seasons.
Cameron was philosophical about the constant speculation over the future of his young group.
“There’s always going to be speculation of players getting poached from other footy clubs,” Cameron said.
“There’s a lot of movements from players these days, but we’re really confident that a lot of these boys will put pen to paper shortly.”
The Giants acquired several experienced players for this season and Cameron suggested they would look to add at least one more to the youngest list in the competition.
Me Too
Guest
i think Patton's value just plummeted. very unlucky. It also means the Giants will do all they can to hold onto Boyd and Cameron.
Gecko
Guest
I've wondered the same thing too Jack. People complain about Buddy squeezing into Sydney's salary cap but I wonder how he previously squeezed into the Hawks' salary cap. Must be a lot of underpaid champions there or...
Happy jack
Guest
Don't foget VIP Ward.... Expect hawthorn to grab one as they do every year and miraculously stay under the saalry cap, Burgoyne, Lake, McEvoy, Gunston etc
Franko
Guest
Patton and the Dogs would be a great fit. Footscray are building a top young midfield, they just need a gorilla on the end of it, Patton would be the man. Fitting Cameron, Patton, Scully, Davis, Boyd, Kelly, Whitfield, Coniglio, O'Rourke etc. under the cap in 3-5 years time will be very very tricky, perhaps the downside of having top picks year-on-year and then recruiting top picks.