COVETED out-of-contract star Josh Kelly's impending decision on his playing future will not be exclusively about money, his Giants teammate Dylan Shiel says.
North Melbourne, St Kilda and Carlton are among the Victorian clubs in the market for Kelly's services as they try to lure the onballer home next season after his best year in the AFL.
Brownlow Medal fancy Kelly is averaging 29.6 disposals – at 76 per cent efficiency – 5.1 clearances, 7.5 score involvements, 6.6 tackles and 4.9 inside 50s in 13 games this year.
Greater Western Sydney has already lost in recent years, among others, midfield stars Adam Treloar and Taylor Adams to Collingwood and key forwards Tom Boyd (Western Bulldogs) and Cam McCarthy (Fremantle).
"A lot of us guys are really close with Josh," Shiel said on radio station RSN927.
"When it comes to someone like Josh, who is obviously coming out of contract this year, he falls into that category of guys we really want to stay, and we understand he'll be a really big loss if he decides to leave.
"He's really well-liked amongst the footy club and we're doing everything we can to help him decide to remain at the Giants.
"In the past, blokes like Taylor Adams and those sorts of guys in our early years, we understood that we were going to have to let go of a few guys and let them move on."
The Kangaroos, who are badly in need of star power and more class through the midfield, reportedly tabled a nine-year offer worth more than $1 million a season to Kelly's management.
Kelly's father, Phil, played 61 VFL games for North and the Giant grew up supporting the club.
"Of course, people are going to look at it and go, 'Well, Josh is facing a money dilemma; whether he comes home for a lot of money or he stays for still a lot of money', in terms of what the general public are used to," Shiel said.
"But it's more than just a dollar decision for players.
"He's got an opportunity to move back home with his family and be with his friends and be around his natural home surroundings, so it's an incredibly difficult decision to make.
"For me, it's a sacrifice I was willing to make in order to hopefully achieve some success here at the Giants."
Shiel, who played for TAC Cup side Dandenong Stingrays, attracted similar attention to Kelly when he came out of contract at the end of the 2015 season, but chose to re-sign with the Giants.
He is one of three GWS footballers still on the list from the club's foundation squad, alongside Jeremy Cameron and Nathan Wilson.
"It was pretty special to still be part of that group and I want to win – I'm a competitive bloke," Shiel said.
"The club's in a really good position on-field now, and off-field the club's been set up extremely well. We've got a really good base of membership this year; we have just over 20,000 for the first time, which is a fantastic achievement.
"There's a lot of opportunity for me to develop myself off-field, with my university studies and some work experience as well, so I'm incredibly happy and settled up here."
