Jack Viney has refused to rule out a trade away from embattled AFL club Melbourne at season’s end.
The former captain has, in recent weeks, become the latest player at the Dees linked with a shock move.
He joins Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver as the third star Dees midfielder to have speculation around his future at the club, while Alex Neal-Bullen has already officially requested a trade, albeit for family reasons.
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Reports have suggested Petracca is disgruntled with the club after what has been a tough year for both he and the Demons, while Oliver has been well below his best in the first year of his lucrative seven-year contract, after a tumultuous pre-season.
But no one expected the curveball that Viney, who joined the club as a father-son selection back in 2012, could be looking elsewhere, with strong links to North Melbourne, where his father Todd works at the head of football.
And when he had the gilt-edged chance to put the rumours to bed after Melbourne’s 54-point win over Gold Coast, he left the door widely open.
“We’ll get through the season and we’ll see how it pans out,” he told Fox Footy when asked if he was “going anywhere”.
Earlier this week, North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkon confirmed the club is interested in luring the Melbourne veteran, less than 24 hours after saying he “never comments publicly” on potential trade targets.
The Kangaroos have made no secret of their desire to target experienced players to help their young list begin their charge up the ladder and eventually into finals contention.
But Clarkson has rarely engaged in such conversations, often leaving it up to the list management team.
And he reaffirmed his stance on not commenting publicly on opposition players when asked about Viney specifically on Thursday.
“We’re entering the silly season. It’s just unfortunate for players and clubs that there’s just so much speculation, but we always leave that to our list management staff,” he said.
“We never comment publicly about any player that we’re either trying to pursue or otherwise. I don’t think that’s fair on the player, I don’t think that’s fair on the club, I don’t think it’s fair on the opposition club.”
But on Friday morning, Clarkson broke his own rule when asked the same question on SEN.
“We want anyone that’s going to help us in that space,” Clarkson said.
“There’s half a dozen players that have been successful, that have had really strong careers and are really strong in their leadership.
“All the guys that we actually want are probably contracted to their club because they’re required for a reason. It’s just can you extract one or two of them out who feel like they’re either not going to get the same opportunities as what they had before or they feel like their club is going in a different direction.
“We’re just hoping we can extract one or two of those. Jack’s (Viney) is part of that.”
After confirming Viney is a trade target, Clarkson went on to mention another four players from opposition clubs that are on their wishlist.
“Ollie Wines we’d like to have a chat to,” he added.
“Luke Parker, Dane Rampe, he’s 34 now. Cal Ward, there’s these guys that are just terrific leaders who have been part of successful programs and are high quality men.”
– With Ben Sutton