Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon and Essendon premiership player Tim Watson were all praise for Collingwood midfielder Daniel Wells’ selfless gesture.
Wells has told the Magpies that he will play out the season for a base fee and match payments rather than taking the reported $500,000 to $600,000 owed to him.
Lyon says Wells’ gesture is the right move for the football club.
“I think it’s fantastic,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“It’s 100 per cent the right thing to do from Daniel Wells' point of view because he’s gone into a new club and we know what he’s capable of but there were question marks about his preparation at one stage.
“He hadn’t come back in the state that he would’ve expected which then led to, I believe, soft tissue and recurrences and you’re paying big money for that.
“The best thing Daniel Wells could ever do was say listen, I’ll take it out of your hands. Let me do this. I play, you pay.”
Watson believes a gesture like Wells’ goes a long way to establishing a great culture at a football club.
“You look at the teams that have been successful like long-term success like the Sydney Swans and say Geelong and Hawthorn and that type of thing,” he said.
“We know that players have played at those football clubs for less than what they could’ve earned elsewhere because they bought into this whole idea of we want to be successful.
“The only way that we can be successful is if we keep this team together but that in itself builds this great culture within your football club that is undeniable."
Wells only managed four games last season after playing 10 in his first year at the Pies.
But Lyon believes if he can increase his game time this season, it will prove pivotal for Collingwood.
“If he was to able to play 15 games for the Collingwood footy club then that means that he’s fit enough and that means that their chances of winning a premiership go up five per cent at least,” he said.
The Magpies kick off their 2019 campaign against Geelong on March 22 at the MCG.