Former Western Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy believes its time for the Suns to make a statement as a club and move players on who no longer want to be at the club.
With the possibility of captains Tom Lynch and Steven May both leaving, on top of the rumours of senior midfielder David Swallow wanting out, Murphy said it’s time to work out who wants to stay and who wants to go.
“It’ll be okay once these players have gone. The next bit of being in limbo must be torturous for them,” he told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“They will only win a maximum of three games next year or so, but at least they can build a football club where everyone that’s there is in and fully invested.
“At the moment, every second week there’s a new name of someone who wants out.
“You have to make a club stand of if you’re here, you’re fully committed, because if you’re not, well then you have to go. It’s like terminates in your football club.
“If we get 12 months down the track and (May’s) still 50-50, we can’t have that.”
SEN Chief Broadcaster Gerard Whateley agrees and said if there’s any chance May wants out, they should get it over and done with.
“I think if somewhere in Steven May’s heart he wants to leave, now is the time,” he said.
“If you have that honest conversation and say you can be the captain for the next five years and we can lock that away or if you think you want to leave, instead of us doing it next year, why don’t we do it now.”
However, former Port Adelaide midfielder Kane Cornes doesn’t think that would be a good look for the club.
“I’d be more inclined to play hard-ball, rather than give May an easy out,” he said.
“I’d say you have committed, and we’re going to keep you here, because we can’t have 20 17-year-old’s running around again.”
Cornes believes the issues with player retention at the Suns don’t have clear-cut solutions.
“It’s ugly. I don’t know what the answer is, because draft picks aren’t,” he said.
“You need players that want to go there and how do you replace them, I don’t know.
“It’s one of the biggest concerns for the AFL right now.”
The Suns will take on Sydney at the SCG today, a team they have never actually beaten.
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