West Coast offer ruckman Nic Naitanui three-year deal

Ben Madden

West Coast offer ruckman Nic Naitanui three-year deal image

West Coast have offered star ruckman, and free agent, Nic Naitanui a three-year deal on a heavily reduced salary.

The Eagles have been in conversation about re-signing Naitanui, who is closing on a return from a knee reconstruction that ended his 2018 season, and saw him miss the Eagles' premiership.



Naitanui has been recovering from that second knee reconstruction after returning in 2018, and the Eagles are expecting him to resume shortly after their bye.

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Talks between Naitanui's management and the Eagles have been progressing for several weeks, with the Eagles keen to secure him for the future on a heavily discounted deal in his free agency year.

Naitanui is a restricted free agent this year, which means the Eagles can match any other offer if he chooses to exercise his rights as a free agent.

He would need to be traded if he wanted to leave, which seems unlikely.

Speaking to AFL.com.au, West Coast midfielder Andrew Gaff said he didn't think Naitanui will have lost any of his athleticism after the knee injury.

"I don't think he's going to lose any of his jumping, or marking or pace," Gaff said.

"I think he's going to be good to go. 

"Being a big guy like that, it's obviously going to take a bit of time once he is in the AFL team to get back to his best, but we're a much better team with him and teams have got to think long and hard about overcoming Nic Nat."

Naitanui has previously been one of the highest-paid players in the AFL, having been contracted for between $900,000 and $1 million in 2017, when his first knee reconstruction saw him miss the entire year.

The ruckman tore his ACL against Collingwood in round 17 of last year. West Coast covered the injury with a combination of Nathan Vardy and Scott Lycett.

Lycett has since moved to Port Adelaide as a free agent, and the Eagles replaced him with ex-St Kilda player Tom Hickey.
 

Ben Madden