Melbourne midfielder Jack Viney has reportedly emerged as a target for Geelong.
The former Demons co-captain, who becomes a restricted free agent at the end of this season, is believed to be on the radar of the Cats who are showing interest in bringing a new midfielder to the club in the upcoming trade period.
Former Dees skipper Garry Lyon spoke passionately about the 26-year-old whose father Todd also led the club, holding hope that his lifelong ties to the red and blue are enough of a sway to keep him.
“I’m hoping someone whose dad was a massive part of the club, who captained it, he’s captained it, and who has got some red and blue through his veins, that’s what I’m hoping,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“Those blokes are hard to find, the heart and soul players. This is a guy who is not as clean and pure but I talk often about knowing what you are going to get with players which is the number one quality for me.
“You know what you are going to get with him every time. It’s heart, it’s soul, it’s commitment, it’s body on the line, it’s ferocious competitiveness, it’s a refusal to concede.
“You understand exactly where you are at with Jack Viney and you don’t let those players go, in my opinion.”
Tim Watson suggested that perhaps Viney could still be considering an exit after he was left disappointed when he was stripped of the captaincy last year but Lyon is adamant that he’s a Melbourne man and the club in return loves him back.
“I don’t know what’s going through his mind but I know he’s appreciated, loved, wanted and respected and I’d be shattered if he left from a Melbourne point of view,” he added.
“I’m hoping they’re doing everything they can to keep him.
“I’ve thought long and hard about it, whether there is some sameness to this midfield, and there is some truth to that but rather than just get rid of some, try and add to it without losing someone of the quality of Jack.
“The conversations I’ve had is that he’s been fantastic this year and he’s moved on and moved past it. The disappointment was real but he’s moved past the captaincy, he’s the vice-captain of the footy club and he’s led the club superbly at times in the absence of big Maxy (Gawn).
“I understand what Geelong are doing, but you don’t give up players like that.”
Watson further indicated that perhaps the successful culture that is bred down at Geelong might be enough of a pull to get Viney across the line.
“He’s a rare talent in not so much the skills side of it but he’s a rare competitor in this game,” Watson said.
“He’s in the top five players in terms of that part of his game.
“But he will attract interest from other clubs because everybody is looking for somebody who plays like that.
“Who wouldn’t want to go to a great club where they believe they are going to have success week in, week out. Geelong have proven to be that.
“I just wonder whether or not that’s still in the back of his mind. Given the season that Melbourne have sort of had, he’d be looking at maybe, ‘Well, I don’t know whether these guys appreciate me as much as what they should’.”
Viney has been one of Melbourne’s better players in 2020, averaging a tick over 20 possessions, 4.4 tackles and more than five clearances per game.