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<\/p>\nLuke Beveridge has responded to talk the club has met with Zak Butters as the club zeroes in on the star free agent. <\/p>\n
Plus, the offer chasm facing a premiership Lion, Hawthorn\u2019s delicate balance amid array of links and Toby Greene to keep the Giants waiting.<\/p>\n
Get the latest player movement news and updates in AFL Trade Whispers!<\/p>\n
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Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018DONT WANT TO GO DOWN THE NRL TRACK\u2019: BEVO RESPONDS TO TALKS OF BUTTERS MEETING<\/p>\n The Western Bulldogs remain the firm favourite to secure Port Adelaide star Zak Butters, despite interest from Geelong, Richmond and Collingwood<\/a>. <\/p>\n Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge could not be drawn into confirming or denying he met with Butters during the Power\u2019s bye.<\/p>\n But the experienced coach is certain the AFL is not ready for an NRL-style declaration of future from players. <\/p>\n \u201cI think we can only get ourselves into trouble as coaches if we talk too much about the acquisition overtures,\u201d Beveridge said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s Zak or anyone else, I can\u2019t really talk to that in any detail, confirm or deny. I would rather stay out of it.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to go down the NRL track. I think it\u2019s a really difficult thing club-wise to know one of your own players has gone, \u2018I\u2019m leaving\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, they\u2019ll be treated a bit differently \u2026 if they\u2019re not your player beyond that year, you can\u2019t help but be emotional about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Swann: “You have to grade it severe” | 02:23<\/p>\n Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli has been active in the club\u2019s recruiting drive for the star free agent, helped by the Victorian teammates\u2019 relationship through the State of Origin game. <\/p>\n Along with Butters growing up a Bulldogs fan, Beveridge said there\u2019s a \u201cromance\u201d about getting the gun midfielder to Whitten Oval. <\/p>\n \u201cZak\u2019s a unique one because Zak was a really keen Bulldogs supporter as a kid, and he had Brad Johnson\u2019s No.6 on his back as a junior,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn his draft year, I met him in the cafe pre-draft, there was a chance that maybe we picked Zak in that draft. We didn\u2019t, obviously.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there\u2019s a romance there for the club and we like to think (for) Zak, so Marcus, and some of Marcus\u2019 teammates are quite naturally drawn to Zak.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing is too, they played in the state team together, so he\u2019s developed some relationships with some of the other boys who played in the state game which can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing if you\u2019re on the other end of it.\u201d<\/p>\n As Butters is a restricted free agent, the Power can match any rival offer he receives and force a trade. <\/p>\n $3.5M CHASM OVER LIONS STAR<\/p>\n The chasm between Brisbane and Adelaide\u2019s respective offers for star free agent Zac Bailey has been laid bare, with the dual premiership likely \u201con the way out\u201d, according to AFL Media reporter Cal Twomey.<\/p>\n A restricted free agent this year, Bailey has been strongly linked to a return to his home state of South Australia.<\/p>\n Twomey last week reported on AFL MediaBrisbane was \u201cnow expecting him (Bailey) to be at Adelaide next year\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking on Footy Classified on Tuesday night, Twomey said the Lions still had an opportunity to up their offer but added \u201cno movement (is) expected in the short-term\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bye coming up for Brisbane was seen as a bit of a chance to stop and pause and think, (but) I think this is going to stretch out further into the season,\u201d Twomey told Channel 9.<\/p>\n ‘Sh******! Stay here Jed!’ | 00:47<\/p>\n \u201cThe gap at the moment \u2026 the Adelaide offer is seven years at about $10 million, the Brisbane offer is six years at about $6.5 million. So you can see why he\u2019s weighing this up.<\/p>\n \u201cThey (the Lions) have also said this is their best offer and they\u2019re nor budging on that. I think if they came to the party and said \u2018here\u2019s an extra year and another $1 million and a bit, that\u2019d close the gap and make him think. At this point, they haven\u2019t done that.\u201d<\/p>\n The durable Bailey has played 178 games and kicked 201 goals ever since being selected by Brisbane with Pick 15 in the 2017 draft.<\/p>\n STAY OR HAWKS? KING\u2019S CALL<\/p>\n Free agent Ben King\u2019s footy future call is down to remaining at Gold Coast or playing for Hawthorn, reports <\/a>The Age<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Suns had initially been hopeful of officially locking away King on a new contract \u2013 a two-year deal worth around $2.6 million \u2013 during their mid-season bye. But CODE Sports writer Jon Ralph reported on Monday night\u2019s On The Couch the club was now officially \u201cworried\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHis (King\u2019s) partner has been with him on the coast for some years, they\u2019ve been relatively happy as a couple (there). She\u2019s been working in various capacities and is now studying on the Gold Coast. But certainly, she has shown some willingness to potentially move,\u201d Ralph told On The Couch.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means that the fifth two-year deal that he would\u2019ve signed is in jeopardy right now.\u201d<\/p>\n The Age reported on Wednesday morning that rival clubs believe the Hawks \u201care the main contender\u201d for King\u2019s services if he opted to leave the Suns, despite some interest as well from Collingwood and Geelong.<\/p>\n ‘Good TV’ Coach responds to Scott claim | 01:35<\/p>\n The recent uncertainty around King\u2019s future prompted the Suns to exponentially increase their interest in retaining Jed Walter, offering the key forward a five-year deal worth around $5 million \u2013 up from a two-year contract worth $750,000 per season \u2013 according to Ralph.<\/p>\n Essendon, Collingwood, Carlton and Adelaide have also been linked to Walter.<\/p>\n It a week after Twomey reported the Hawks had upped their offer to free agent Mitch Lewis, who remains unsigned beyond this season.<\/p>\n \u201cThe interesting part is a month ago when he was going to stay, Hawthorn then said: \u2018Let\u2019s offer Mitch Lewis a four-year deal\u2019. But in the last couple of weeks, it\u2019s been \u2018we might (have) a little bit more interest now (in King)\u2019. So there\u2019s a real ripple effect,\u201d Twomey told Footy Classified.<\/p>\n The Hawks also have interest in King\u2019s Gold Coast teammate Bailey Humphrey, as well as Essendon star Zach Merrett again.<\/p>\n LATE GREENE CALL LOOMS<\/p>\n Toby Greene is highly unlikely to settle on his AFL future in the short term, reports <\/a>CODE Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n An unrestricted free agent, Greene had been offered a three-year, $2 million deal to remain at the Giants.<\/p>\n But the 32-year-old has also been linked with a return to his home state of Victoria, especially Geelong.<\/p>\n CODE Sports reported on Wednesday Greene\u2019s call \u201cwill go right to the end of the season\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pull of returning to Victoria, and potentially seeing out his career at Geelong with his old mate Jeremy Cameron, looms large for the Giants skipper,\u201d the CODE Sports report read.<\/p>\n GWS ‘Desperate’ to keep Greene | 02:21<\/p>\n \u201cBut he has also given so much to the Giants, and it would be a tough decision to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n Greene on the weekend said he hadn\u2019t used the Giants\u2019 mid-season bye to firm up his footy future call, adding that\u2019d \u201cplay out in due course\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t had any of that, to be honest,\u201d Greene told SEN. \u201cI\u2019ve just been very switched off the last few days, very low key. I spend most of the time with my family.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, it hasn\u2019t crossed my mind too much. I\u2019m more focused on trying to get back in the season, try and make a run for it.<\/p>\n \u201cI know as the season gets a little longer, people start to talk more about it, then you probably have to acknowledge it. But at the moment I want to make sure the Giants are going as good as we can and get it done by the end of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luke Beveridge has responded to talk the club has met with Zak Butters as the club zeroes in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1142,352130,64,63,689,11295,3423,696,651,3237,1135,57166,9124,12015,14385,6241,303618,18507,10124,2105,2485,9130,7492,12141,681,54908,12182,677,352131,12922,701,328834,12936,1124,85,5338,19086,11236,36719,81332,660,29646,25581],"class_list":["post-726891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-adam-kingsley","tag-agent-narrows","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-ben-king","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-brad-scott","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-cal-twomey","tag-call-looms","tag-chris-hyde","tag-contract-offer","tag-damien-hardwick","tag-deal-worth","tag-delicate-balance","tag-five-year-deal-worth","tag-fremantle-dockers","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-hawthorn-hawks","tag-jeremy-cameron","tag-jon-ralph","tag-mid-season-bye","tag-mitch-lewis","tag-oceania","tag-offer-chasm","tag-player-movement-news","tag-queensland","tag-report-read","tag-sam-mitchell","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-the-gabba","tag-toby-greene","tag-trade-news","tag-two-year-deal","tag-two-year-deal-worth","tag-victoria","tag-young-stars","tag-zach-merrett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}