Nick Riewoldt says Geelong should take the best deal for Tim Kelly
As Geelong braces for Tim Kelly to formally request a trade at the end of the season, former Saints captain Nick Riewoldt says the Cats should trade him to whichever West Australian club offers the best deal.
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Former St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt says Geelong is entitled to take the best deal for Tim Kelly regardless of whether he nominates West Coast as his club of choice.
As the Herald Sun revealed this week, Kelly is set to request a trade to the Eagles at the end of the season, adamant family happiness trumps his future premiership aspirations at Geelong.
West Coast’s contract offer is expected to be a six-year contract that could earn him nearly $5 million over the course of the deal.
However, the Eagles may be hard pressed to satisfy Geelong in a trade after their interest was rebuffed last year when West Coast offered picks 20, 22 and a future draft selection.
Kelly last year resisted a trade to Fremantle, which will again hold a strong hand.
The Dockers will have pick six in the draft unless Gold Coast is granted a priority pick, which would push their first selection to pick seven.
Brad Hill’s expected return to Victoria and Ed Langdon’s mooted switch to Melbourne are likely to net a first and second-round pick.
“I just wonder whether it’s a time for a football club like Geelong to take a stand,” Riewoldt said on Fox Footy.
“They took a stand last year and he stayed for another year.
“But I am not questioning the veracity of Tim Kelly’s desire to get home and the reasons and the family reasons and that’s a complex issue. I absolutely understand that.”
He added: “If Fremantle are going to provide the better option and the better trade for Geelong, I think it’s time for clubs to stand their ground a bit and get the best deal.”
Teammate Patrick Dangerfield said he understood the enormity of Kelly’s decision on Wednesday and it would be tough to argue with his teammate if he again requests a trade for family reasons.
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Dangerfield, the AFLPA president who four years ago quit Adelaide to return closer to home at Geelong, said he was in the dark on Kelly’s decision and was instead simply enjoying playing with the second-year star.
“I get his family situation, so if it’s family I suppose it’s a clear-cut decision isn’t it?” Dangerfield said.
“But there’s so much more that goes into making a decision like this. There’s the environment that you’re in, career-wise (you ask) ‘what’s the best thing for my footy?’ and that’s a compelling argument because of just how well he’s playing and how well he’s fitted in, the role that he plays in our team.
“He’ll come to a decision when he’s ready, but he’s certainly giving us absolutely everything that he’s got and I’m just along for the ride and I’m enjoying every second of it.”
There is not a dramatic difference between the contract offers from Geelong, West Coast and Fremantle, with Kelly adamant he is moving for family rather than chasing the biggest deal he can acquire.
“We’re not sure with where that’s going to land this year but how he’s handled it and the way that he’s played speaks volumes I think of the commitment he’s shown to the club and to his teammates in wanting to make sure that if it is the last season (with us) — and I have no insight whatsoever — that it’s as good as it possibly can be,” Dangerfield told SEN.
“I just love playing with him each and every week.”
Dangerfield’s sentiments were echoed by Geelong skipper Joel Selwood.
“It’s been 18 months where Tim has been in a spotlight,” he told Fox Footy.
“But as you have seen, he will just prepare as well as what he possibly can for this game, he’ll pull on the Geelong jumper and he’ll play as hard as he possibly can for the jumper and for the boys.
“We have come to really appreciate the individual that he is within that. But he’s a great teammate and we’re rapt to have him on our side.”
Kelly has no beef with Fremantle despite his partner Caitlin Miller “liking” a recent social media post about Ross Lyon’s sacking.
But despite two years at Geelong he has not diverted from his position that he needs to be back with his family in Perth.
And he has not swayed from his determination to get to Adam Simpson’s West Coast.
One of the couple’s sons has been diagnosed with autism and another of his twins is showing early signs that he needs extensive treatment for his own learning difficulties.
Geelong has been lauded for its welfare and support for Kelly and Miller, with Tim’s cousin returning with them this year to help out with the kids.
Fremantle will clearly come hard at Kelly as it did last year despite currently having no coach and no chief executive.
But having told the Dockers they had 12 months to become the kind of elite organisation the Eagles boast, Fremantle has instead imploded.
It has lost its coach, its chief executive and will lose Brad Hill and Ed Langdon, who would have provided strong support for him in the midfield.
Miller’s explanation for liking the tweet was that she likes hundreds of posts over any given week and wasn’t endorsing the anti-Lyon post.
While Fremantle cannot be discounted as a trade factor given it might be the only way to get back home, the Eagles are his destination of choice.
Kelly distanced himself from the report on Tuesday, saying only that he would sit down with his partner and manager at the season’s end to make a decision.
He feels they have a greater culture of success, better stability as a club and have a better midfield to help him flourish.
Kelly won’t make an official declaration until after the finals, aware there will be many twists and turns in the trade to eventually get him home.
His coach Chris Scott said on Sunday he still held out some hope of retaining him, admitting he often thought about the ramifications of his moving home.
Kelly has met both WA-based clubs over the past year as he assesses his options, believing it would be negligent not to scout his future home.
West Coast has picks 17 and 23 in this year’s draft, with the Cats wanting at least two first-round selections in a swap for Kelly.
But in an even draft the Cats might be prepared to accept more first-round selections rather than two top-10 picks because they can secure players they are interested in later in the draft.
Kelly was noncommittal about his future as recently as June, despite attempting to find a way to love the city of Geelong.
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“I’m just really locked in at the moment. I think I’ve said it before, tunnel vision,” Kelly said.
“I’m enjoying being back at the club and enjoying my footy, and I love playing with these boys.
“As for my future, it’s all up in the air at the moment. I’ll get to that at the end of the year.
“For now it’s playing the best footy I can and enjoying these boys. It’s enjoyable when you’re winning.”
Originally published as Nick Riewoldt says Geelong should take the best deal for Tim Kelly