CATS REFUSING TO GIVE UP ON KELLY
GEELONG captain Joel Selwood says the Cats won’t give up hope of re-signing star midfielder Tim Kelly.
Kelly is expected to request a trade to West Coast to be closer to his family after his bid to return to Western Australia failed last year.
But Geelong will continue to persuade Kelly — who finished fifth in the Brownlow Medal on Monday night — to stay, with meetings expected to continue this week.
The Cats believe they have tabled an attractive offer to Kelly, both from a financial and security point of view.
Part of a long-term deal put to Kelly reportedly includes release clauses every year, allowing him to return to Western Australia at any time.
Selwood said the club has done everything possible to keep Kelly at GMHBA Stadium for 2020 and beyond.
“We are hopeful, always. We have given it a good chance. We have put the contract there that will give him a chance (to stay),” Selwood told the Geelong Advertiser.
“But it’s up to him at the end of the day.”
West Coast holds picks 13, 22, 31 and 59 in this year’s draft but will likely need to find a way to trade in another firstround selection to seal a deal.
Fremantle is another option for Kelly, but Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe yesterday said he thought his club might struggle to meet the Cat’s financial requests.
Fyfe was yesterday asked what his club could do to entice the 25-year-old to Freo.
“Dollars,” was Fyfe’s blunt response. “I think we live in the real world and that has a fair bit of play in it.”
Kelly is believed to want to join the Eagles over the Dockers, but Fyfe wasn’t convinced that was true.
“I’m not sure that’s the truth, and you can’t really believe what you hear or what you read,” he told radio station SEN.
“I think he wants to potentially go home.
“He’s a wanted and required player back at Geelong and we’ll be doing everything we can to get him because he’s a quality player, but the proper process will have to take place over the coming months.
“But I think Fremantle would be a reasonable fit for him if he wants to come home.”
Fyfe said he’d had a “little bit of a chat in passing” with Kelly but it was difficult to chat in detail on Monday night at the Brownlow count.
“At the right time I’ll make contact,” he said.
“He’s got some big decisions to make and I’m sure Geelong want to hang onto him, but we’d like to have him.”
The Cats will again drive a hard bargain for Kelly, who was one of the best afield in Friday night’s preliminary final loss to Richmond with 31 disposals and three goals.
“We’ll fight really hard to keep Tim,” Geelong coach Chris Scott said.
“I just can’t see a way a trade can be done, personally.”
When asked what a fair trade for Kelly would look like, Scott joked on AFL360: “Four first-round picks and Dustin Martin.”