GWS CEO Dave Matthews has provided an update on out of contract restricted free agent Stephen Coniglio.
The superstar midfielder has been linked with a move to Victoria or a move back home to Western Australia.
Matthews would like the situation resolved sooner rather than later, but doesn’t want to put a timeline on when Coniglio will have a decision made.
“There’d be 17 other clubs that would be as happy as we are to have Stephen Coniglio,” Matthews told SEN’s Time On.
“There’s no pressure from us in terms of timelines. We’ve got a great level of respect for him. He’s been with our club since day one and he’s helped build it.
“We head into the bye, it’s a good time for anyone to have a deep breath and take stock. I’m sure that’s what Stephen’s doing and when he gets to a point where he wants to make a decision, he’ll do that.
“At the moment we’ve been really content with his focus on playing really good football and leading this club the way that he does.
“In any of these things, the sooner the better, but we’re not impatient about it.
“He’s a restricted free agent too, not an outright free agent. I think his manager has had a bit of time away as well, he’s only recently back in the country so discussions are ongoing and we’d look to resolve it sooner rather than later, but in saying that, there’s no deadline from us.”
Matthews later took aim at Jeff Kennett, suggesting it will be hard for Hawthorn to lure Coniglio with their president making questionable comments.
“From a club president, the comments were extremely disappointing and the irony for us is you (Sam McClure) mentioned Stephen Coniglio often gets linked to Hawthorn," he said.
“Well knowing Stephen’s character very well and knowing he’s a multicultural ambassador, I think the way those values were expressed were a long way from where he sits as an individual.”