Senior GWS players urge Stephen Coniglio to tell Giants as soon as possible if he’s leaving

GWS co-captain Phil Davis has urged Stephen Coniglio to tell the Giants if he’s leaving as soon as possible so the club can negotiate and finalise contracts for other players who are still waiting.

Stephen Coniglio has been urged by senior GWS players to do the right thing and not leave the Giants in the lurch if he has decided he is leaving.

As speculation mounts over the ominous delay in any announcement on the superstar’s future, Coniglio is fighting hard on the training paddock to still return from a knee injury for the Giants’ finals campaign.

It puts the 25-year-old vice-captain on a potentially awkward collision course if he does indeed accept one of the big-money offers on the table from Melbourne clubs, led by Carlton.

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It’s understood Coniglio will aim to return to running in the next week or two in a bid to be available for the finals, possibly depending on how deep GWS can go. Based on last week’s shocking loss to Hawthorn, they desperately need him to be any chance of premiership glory.

GWS heavyweights led by board member Jimmy Bartel says the club has been assured by Coniglio’s manager that no decision has been made.

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Will Stephen Coniglio stay at GWS?

But the longer the saga drags on, the less likely it would appear he will stay in western Sydney with reports before the weekend suggesting he is now a 50-50 proposition at best to remain a Giant.

Giants co-captain Phil Davis understands from personal experience the delicacies involved in how you announce you’re leaving a club before a season’s end, having gone through it at Adelaide as a youngster.

But Davis told SEN radio he would hope Coniglio would trust GWS administrators enough to tell them if he was leaving, even if he didn’t want the news made public until the end of the year.

Davis’ strong view is based on the fact the future of numerous other GWS players potentially rest on Coniglio’s decision.

“I probably have more of a view if you’ve made your mind up, you don’t necessarily need to proclaim it publicly but I think we’re in a position now where you can tell administration and keep it in house that way,” Davis said.

Coniglio injured his knee against Richmond in Round 17.

“I think with how the competition is now … it can sometimes be a race to get into a position to get players (and) knowing where your list will be earlier is an advantage.

“There’s no doubt from my point of view having all that information as early as possible is good and if Stephen went to Wayne Campbell (Giants head of football) or any player went to (Campbell) and said, ‘hey I don’t think I’ll be here next year,’ then you can start planning and I think that’s better for us.

“Playing it out in public provides a whole myriad of issues that are best to be avoided. People telling their fans etc they’re not going to be there next year can cause some issues that I don’t think we’re ready for.”

Giants veteran Brett Deledio revealed to The Daily Telegraph last week how Coniglio’s stagnated talks were holding up his own contract situation, and Davis agrees it’s become an issue.

“Good sides have a lot of good players who take up significant amounts of salary cap space and you’re always going to be tight right on your limit,” Davis said.

“With Stephen being in our top few earners, an element of what he does will affect what offers we can give to other players.”