It’s not surprising, but a little concerning.
As a bit of added context, he also said he was in no rush to sort out his future and was looking forward to seeing what Reed and Kikau would add to the team next year.
If we want to keep him, the equation is pretty simple. We need to offer him:
Proof he will be playing in a winning footy team + money that can compete with what is being offered elsewhere.
I don’t think he’s exactly clamouring to get out the door anymore, but if he thinks he has a better chance of winning premierships elsewhere and can get equal or better money at the club that can offer that to him, I think he’ll walk. 100 percent. It is very important that we play well for the remainder of the year and build on that momentum in 2023.
Hopefully during negotiations he will also remember we were the club who offered him > his market worth before he had shown how good he is at first grade level. We took an educated punt on him, hopefully he will show us that same faith. But if we’re losing most of our games or trying to lowball him, it won’t happen.