West Coast wingman Matt Rosa is set to shun the riches of free agency in order to finish his AFL career as a one-club player.
As an unrestricted free agent, Rosa can move to the club of his choice at the end of the year, and several Melbourne-based teams are eager to lure him home.
But the 27-year-old Victorian is keen to stay at the Eagles, and hopes a deal can be finalised within the next month.
“I’ve indicated to the club that I’d like to be a one-club player. So, yeah, hopefully it gets sorted,” Rosa said on Monday.
“I think Victoria will always be home, but I love it in Perth.
“I am really enjoying my time at the footy club at the moment. It’s probably the most I have enjoyed my footy for a long time.”
Rosa, the No.29 pick from the 2004 national draft, will notch his 150-game milestone in Saturday’s western derby against Fremantle.
The hard-running wingman has averaged 25.3 possessions per game this season, including 37 touches in Sunday’s win over St Kilda.
But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.
Broken bones, knee injuries, and a back complaint stalled his career at various times, but it was an innocuous knock to his thigh early last year that proved the most scary.
After struggling to overcome what he thought was a regulation corky, Rosa was diagnosed with compartment syndrome and quickly rushed to hospital for surgery.
“I was trying to tell the doctor, ‘No, I don’t want surgery because I’ll miss six weeks’,” Rosa said.
“But then within the next two minutes I was tapping him on the shoulder saying, ‘Mate get me in there, I need to get it done, it’s too much pain’.
“It wasn’t a great result to miss a bit of footy but it’s all feeling good now.”
Rosa won the Ross Glendinning medal as best afield in the round-nine western derby in 2012.
He’ll be hoping for a similar result on Saturday as the Eagles attempt to keep their slim finals hopes alive.
West Coast ruckman Dean Cox is set to return following a two-week rest, while the Dockers are weighing up whether to hand Anthony Morabito a dream AFL recall.
Fremantle have won the past four derbies, but Rosa said West Coast’s confidence was on the up following consecutive wins over Gold Coast and St Kilda.