Seven in chase for Pies star
CARLTON, North Melbourne and St Kilda are among seven clubs in the market for Jordan De Goey if he decides to leave Collingwood.
The Magpies are clearly favoured to retain the emerging star and they will get a better indication of De Goey’s intention when they meet his management about Round 15.
De Goey’s booming form has prompted clubs to inquire about his plans.
There’s been no indication of a financial offer from any of the seven clubs.
It is estimated De Goey, who is just 22 and has played 56 games, could be offered anywhere between $650,000 a year to stay at Collingwood and up to $800,000 a year to leave. A long-term deal of six years could push the money towards $5 million all up.
Both Collingwood and de Goey’s manager Ben Niall agreed to postpone talks to after the bye breaks.
Niall said in April: “We are not entering any conversations. We are putting everything off until at least midyear and maybe until the end of the year.’’
In the next six weeks, Niall and Collingwood will collect all relevant information on De Goey.
They include, on Collingwood’s behalf, de Goey’s behavioural improvement, his professionalism, training standards and sustained form.
De Goey is not drinking alcohol and continues to help the homeless at weekends as part of the fallout from a drink-driving incident earlier this year.
Teammate Adam Treloar last night said De Goey would understand he owed the club.
“I think in himself he would think that he owes the club a bit because of the amount of faith the club and the boys have put in him,’’ Treloar said on Fox Footy.
“I think in saying that, we’ve done that because we see the character that he is first and foremost, but we see the influence he has on our group. When he is playing the way that he has been playing, and that’s creating contests up forward and kicking goals for us, that’s exactly what we want him doing.
“I’m very, very sure that come the end of the year, we are going to see Jordan De Goey re-sign and dominate for years to come.”
People close to De Goey say his off-field behaviour since his drink-driving incident has been exemplary.
The speculation about de Goey’s future has not dampened Collingwood’s confidence of keeping him.
“We’re really confident with the environment that we’re building around the place,” coach Nathan Buckley said at the weekend. “We love his instincts and we love his competitiveness. He’s not going to be a buttoned up, tie up, type player, we love his rough edges and we’re continuing to work with him to help him understand how beneficial he can be to the team.’’