GREATER Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron believes confidential contract offers being made public is part of the new world of AFL footy.
It emerged this week that North Melbourne had reportedly offered GWS midfielder Josh Kelly a nine-year deal worth around $9 million, an extraordinary carrot to dangle in front of a player with just 62 games' experience.
Kelly, 22, is one of the AFL's brightest young players and is due to come out of contract at the end of this season, and while there has been speculation for weeks that he'll re-commit to Giants, he's yet to sign a new deal.
Cameron said he was now used to constant speculation surrounding the future of his players, and while he didn't point the finger at any party involved in the Kelly story, he said releasing potential contract information to the media was a deliberate act.
"I think it's a tactic isn't it, let's be honest," he said.
"There'll be people out there from every footy club trying to secure talent, whether it be from our footy club, or someone from Melbourne, Adelaide, Queensland or Western Australia.
"Whether it's in the (public) domain or not, it's going to happen more and more.
"There's players moving from club to club a lot more, we've secured some outstanding players from other footy clubs, and likewise we've lost a couple, but we're absolutely confident, really confident of retaining Josh.
"I don't think we have to give him a reason (to stay), Josh already knows why he wants to be at the footy club.
"He really likes the place, he's bought into our footy club, he's in our leadership group, he's playing really good footy, he's very popular (here), and he wants to stay.
"He's very grounded and a very relaxed sort of lad, he knows there'll be a fair bit of kerfuffle about it, but he'll deal with it and hopefully we can get it done and dusted over the next couple of weeks, or month or so."
Giants co-captain Phil Davis said he felt like he had been asked questions about losing players since the club's inaugural season in 2012, and it wouldn't affect the way he or his teammates went about their footy.
"From my point of view as a fellow player, my job is just to do what I've been doing with Josh since he got here, and that’s to make sure he's enjoying the environment here," he said.
"We just let him do his thing, and if you look at his form last weekend in particular, he's been outstanding.
"I think it's the same at every club if you have success, people want your players, and that’s just the way it goes, it's part of the game."
Kelly will get a close-up look at his suitors this week when the Giants take on the Kangaroos in Tasmania in a long-awaited 100th senior game for Davis.
The 26-year-old, who is in his ninth season after being taken with pick 10 at the 2008 NAB AFL Draft by Adelaide, has battled a host of injury problems, most notable a lacerated kidney back in 2014 that doctors told him looked more like that of a car crash survivor.
"It's been an interesting journey," he said.
"When they were tossing up whether they were going to take the kidney out or not, wondering if my career would go on definitely crossed my mind, but I had some great surgeons and some good luck.
"One thing I pride myself on is my resilience and ability to keep on going, and on top of that I've got a great support network.
"So I've had setbacks, which has been frustrating, but to play 100 games of footy is something I'm pretty proud of."