North Melbourne won’t stop chasing big names after missing out on Andrew Gaff
LOSING out on Andrew Gaff was not a “kick in guts’’ for North Melbourne. Far from it. The Kangaroos believe getting so close to recruiting the star midfielder is a good sign for the club’s future.
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LOSING out on Andrew Gaff was not a “kick in guts’’ to North Melbourne, according to chairman Ben Buckley.
Gaff on Sunday 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 million-dollar 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.
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“It’s not a kick in the guts, obviously it’s disappointing, but it’s 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 as his club of choice 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.
“And just because we haven’t been successful with one or two high profile players today, it won’t mean we won’t keep turning up and having a crack.’’
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That North Melbourne has missed recruiting the five high-profile stars will feed the narrative the Kangas continue to fail at the final hurdle.
Another narrative is they keep getting to the Grand Final for these players and losing ... but at least they are in the Grand Final.
Buckley says 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 of those players indicated the only other club they’d go to other than their own was North Melbourne,’’ the president 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 Kangas through the trade period.
In a boost for the club, father-son prospect Bailey Scott nominated the Kangas as his club of choice ahead of the 2018 draft.
The 18-year-old had a choice between North Melbourne, Geelong - where his father Robert played more than 100 games - and Gold Coast where he was eligible as an academy selection.
“I understand it’s a draft and I have not been guaranteed by North Melbourne that I will be selected by them, although if things go to plan as they perceive the draft will unfold then North Melbourne will select me,” Scott said in a statement.
Originally published as North Melbourne won’t stop chasing big names after missing out on Andrew Gaff