Kangas get over Gaff
Chairman talks up confidence
LOSING out on Andrew Gaff was not a “kick in guts’’ to North Melbourne, chairman Ben Buckley says.
On Sunday, Gaff was the fifth superstar player from a rival club — the others were Isaac Heeney, Dustin Martin, Jordan de Goey and Josh Kelly — to knock back milliondollar lures from the cashed up Kangas in recent years.
Buckley was told on Sunday afternoon of Gaff’s decision to remain at West Coast by the Kangaroos’ head of football Cameron Joyce.
“It’s not a kick in the guts, obviously it’s disappointing, but it’s not a kick in the guts,’’ Buckley said.
“We will remain as determined as ever, we won’t be persuaded to take a backward step, we will still be aggressive and assertive in going after players who are available.’’
The Kangaroos won’t make a late run for GWS playmaker Dylan Shiel who will soon choose between Carlton, Essendon, St Kilda and Hawthorn for next season.
Asked if being aggressive included pursuing Kelly for a second time at the end of the 2019 season, Buckley said: “That may or may not be, but we have capacity in our salary cap and we have a determination to build a list which can contend in finals footy and we’ll continue to pursue players vigorously.”
That North Melbourne has missed recruiting the five high-profile stars will feed the narrative that the Kangas continue to fail at the final hurdle.
Another narrative is that they keep getting to the Grand Final for these players and losing — but at least they are in the Grand Final.
Buckley said his club was ahead of 16 other clubs.
“I look at it this way, two high-profile players, one was Martin, one was Gaff, both key players in premiership-winning teams, both indicated the only other club they’d go to other than their own was North Melbourne,’’ he said.
“We know it’s very hard to get [players] to leave their clubs, particularly clubs in a premiership window, so the fact the only club they were considering other than their own was North, I think is testament to where the club was at.
“I don’t buy they rejected North, they just chose to stay in an environment which was very dear to them and they were very loyal to in the end.
“But if they had chosen to go, they would’ve chosen to come to us, and that’s a very positive thing.’’
Buckley was enthused about the 2018 season, where the club won 12 games after winning six games in 2017.
“I’m very confident our list has made really, really strong progress this year,’’ he said.
“I am confident we’ll add to it over the next few weeks and we will add to it in future years as well.’’
Port Adelaide’s Jared Polec and Gold Coast’s Aaron Hall are expected to join the Roos through the trade period.
In a boost for the club, father-son prospect Bailey Scott yesterday nominated the Roos as his club of choice ahead of the 2018 national draft.