SYDNEY won't rush star Chad Warner to make a call on his future as the club looks to break through for its first win of the season against Fremantle.
Western Australian-born Warner is out of contract at the end of the year and speculation is rife about what West Coast and Fremantle will offer to lure the explosive midfielder back home.
Sydney has made it clear it is desperate to retain Warner, with coach Dean Cox labelling their re-signing efforts a "top priority".
Warner's teammates Errol Gulden, Logan McDonald, Ollie Florent, Will Hayward and James Rowbottom all recommitted recently.
But Swans defender Dane Rampe refused to heap more pressure on Warner, when asked about reports alleging teammates were confident the in-demand midfielder would stay.
"I haven't heard anything, but maybe he just doesn't want to tell me," Rampe joked.
"No, no, 'Chaddy' has been great. It's hard for a kid that age to deal with the ongoing pressure.
"At the end of the day, he's got a big decision to make.
"From my point of view, we welcome that, like, take his time."
Rampe added the contract saga is "so far out of our control, apart from the environment we can create for him".
"He'll make a decision at the end of the year, whatever that is," the veteran said.
"I support that as a mate, but we just want what's best for him."
The Swans will head west to meet Fremantle on Sunday as both sides look to claim their first victory of the season.
Talk of a post-Grand Final hangover is casting another shadow on Sydney after losses to Hawthorn and Brisbane.
Meanwhile, Fremantle is burning after opening their season with a 78-point thrashing from Geelong.
Expecting a fired-up Dockers, Rampe says the Swans are paying no mind to the outside noise.
The former Sydney co-captain is well acquainted with the task of rebuilding after a Grand Final defeat, easily pointing to their horror 0-6 start in 2017 after losing the premiership to the Western Bulldogs the year before.
More recently, the Swans rallied late to make the 2023 finals after losing the 2022 Grand Final.
"You've got to build yourself back up and that's a challenge in itself," Rampe said.
"To be even thinking that far ahead (to finals) is, I find, quite arrogant.
"We've done that before in the past, and we've got caught out. We ended up 0-6 (in 2017).
"We found out pretty quickly that if you sacrifice your foundations as a footy team, maybe start looking a little bit further ahead, you get caught out pretty quickly.
"We're just taking it - pretty boring - one week at a time."
