West Coast captain Shannon Hurn has urged out of contract stars Jeremy McGovern and Andrew Gaff to remain at the club but says the business reality is they could depart.
On the eve of the JLT Series the spotlight surrounding the Eagles centres on the out-of-contract pair who will be hotly chased by rivals.
“Jeremy is a Western Australian and Andrew is loving it over here and he’s quite settled,” he told SEN’s Time On.
“As a captain you do want your players to stay because that means your program is going well.
“I want the players to stay and I want them to play great football together.”
The Eagles have offered McGovern a five-year deal worth close to $4 million while Gaff was the centre of trade speculation during last year’s trade period.
Hurn dismissed any talk that should players leave there would be any ill will. Adelaide skipper Taylor Walker publically called out Jake Lever after he departed the Crows for Melbourne last year.
“If a player wants to explore his options then that’s up to him and we won’t hold any grudges,” he said.
“The conversation I have with any player is that football is your life and you need to make the most of it but at the same time we want that to be at West Coast.
“While you don’t want it to happen the reality is it does in AFL these days.”
The 30-year-old Hurn, who enters his fourths season as skipper with 223 games to his name, said the club was entering an exciting phase in the wake of retirements of stalwarts Matt Priddis, Sam Butler, Drew Petrie and Sam Mitchell.
“It slightly changes the way we got about our footy,” he said.
“It’s more about actions through putting the message out there to players.”
Given an injury free run the rebounding defender will pass the likes of Ben Cousins, David Wirrpanda, Matt Priddis and Michael Braun on the Eagle’s gams record list this season.
Hurn has missed one of West Coast’s past 72 matches.