im not sure why Motlop is dragging out his prefered destination, my only reasoning behind it is maybe trying to get a good deal from Geelong so he can stay there, maybe its just due diligence but he's had 3 months to think about his? maybe its more about his manager say there's no rush to announce anything and we might get another 50k by waiting a couple of days. Port have given him a fair offer so if he goes to another club then i wont be worrying about it for a second
Because he's got this contract for 3- or 4- years depending on offers, most probably 2- or 1- year after that, and that's it. Just returned from groin injury to play a couple of cracking finals, casting 'doubt' on a past reputation as a 'downhill skier' as clumsy a bit of praise as that is, and suggesting past documented issues with training standards might be just that - past. So this really is the big one career wise for him. Hopefully personal connections and feeling of home and warm and fuzzy 'alignment with the ethos of a place' matter 'to some extent' but who can tell if to him that's worth 10, 15 or 20% of the most critical salary package of his career.
Suddenly three bidders are thinking hmm are we really getting the bargain and strategic 'piece of the puzzle' we planned months for or are we buying at the top now, or are we screwing our arch enemy, or are we fixing a lack of mobility, outside polish and goal kicking ability in our midfield and forward lines, or are we putting a stamp on our new domain by letting Geelong facilitate a trade home for a certain other useful forward/midfielder ... or combinations thereof. Meanwhile Geelong are thinking hell the longer this storm builds up the better the compo pick and even contemplating a little seller's remorse.
If he goes to another club I'll mostly be annoyed if we haven't got a plan B. Historically that's what's really done us in, in trading. Not resourcing plan B well enough so that when one thing goes south or doesn't go anywhere, we know our walk away point, move on with time enough to close plan B. We seem to do our upfront research, our 'prospecting' really well. Closing skills are also essential, but so is pipeline management, to use the sales jargon. You lose a sale you do move on. Because 2018 beckons, or you become bitter stupid Crows or bitter twisted Dodododro types.
So give Mots a break, the decision is literally and figuratively (hehe) a big deal. Obviously if he doesn't come here I'd prefer he went to the Gold Coast rather than the Crows, because 2018-2019 threat level.