GWS coach Leon Cameron is confident he will keep star midfielder Stephen Coniglio who is off-contract and being courted by several AFL clubs.
Cameron admits he wishes Coniglio had re-signed “six months ago” but said it wouldn’t become a distraction for his club heading into finals.
Coniglio, 25, was tracking towards a maiden Brownlow Medal before injuring his knee against Richmond four weeks ago.
The 25-year-old was averaging 28.5 disposals, 10.4 contested possessions, 5.3 clearances and had kicked 15 goals from 14 games before he went down.
Cameron said he would feel “blinded” if Coniglio left the Giants and was feeling good about the free-agent re-committing to the club.
“I’d love for him to have signed six months ago,” Cameron said.
“I know media speculation have ramped it up over the last 48 hours but I had a really good chat to Stephen two days ago and from my points of view, unless I’m blinded, I don’t see anything different.
“Would I like him to sign right now? Absolutely. I think the club is handling it as well as we possibly can under the circumstances.”
The Giants badly missed Coniglio when they were thrashed by Hawthorn in Canberra on Friday, but they’ll play finals for the fourth straight season next month.
“If it takes another two weeks or three weeks (for Coniglio to sign) then that’s the way it’s going to be. It’s not distracting our footy club, it’s not distracting me because I’ve got great faith,” Cameron said.
“The big thing we need to get right is stuff on the footy field, not worry about if he’ll sign or not sign. We’ve had some great dialogue with him and are really confident it’s going to happen.”