HARLEY Bennell looks certain to score another AFL lifeline, with six clubs frantically doing their due diligence on the richly talented ex-Docker and Sun.
Sydney, Geelong and Melbourne are among those teams, but far from his only options as he seeks to extend his stalled and injury-marred 83-game career.
The Demons will formalise the interest they've shown for some time in Bennell when they run the rule over him in the next 24 hours.
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Bennell, 27, flew into Melbourne on Tuesday, after having a meeting with another Victorian club in Perth last week.
It's believed a fourth Victorian side is bringing him back next week, while the Demons confirmed they plan to invite him to train with them in the pre-season from December 3.
Bennell is eligible to be picked up as a delisted free agent from this Friday but may have to wait until the pre-season supplemental selection period to land at a third club.
Greater Western Sydney ruckman Shane Mumford, Tiger Sydney Stack and Carlton's Mick Gibbons were among the players signed in last year's SSP, which ran from December to March.
Melbourne recruited Corey Wagner and Jay Lockhart the same way.
Bennell also has an offer to train with a team leading up to the national and rookie drafts, but he would prefer to choose his destination.
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"As a club, we have to look at every opportunity to make our list better, and Harley Bennell's obviously a very talented player," Demons football boss Josh Mahoney told the club's website.
"There are a lot of things we have to discuss, and those conversations involve our coaches, our performance staff, our doctors – it really is a club decision.
"We're trying to get as much information as we can from Harley; where his injury is at currently, what the plan looks like for him moving forward and what the opportunities are for him to get back to playing AFL football."
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Bennell parted ways with Fremantle in mid-July, ending a drama-filled four-season stint that included only two senior matches – both in 2017 – against 12 calf setbacks.
He had an operation on both of his calves in Brisbane in recent months, with a previously unknown nerve issue discovered, and interested clubs have contacted his surgeon.
Bennell told AFL.com.au in September it would "mean the world to me" to receive another AFL opportunity, and he is happy to go anywhere.
"I just think I've still got a lot more in the tank. I've come this far and I'm not going to give up, just because of my latest injury. I'm not a person who will just chuck the towel in and give up," he said.
"I love training and I love football. Without football, who knows where I'll be?
"Getting a third opportunity at the highest level would be life-changing for myself and my partner and my family – it would be the luckiest thing. It would mean a lot to me and my family."
