BRISBANE Lions football director Leigh Matthews says the club is not resigned to losing young midfielder James Aish in the wake of reports the No.7 draft pick has met with Carlton.
Aish, who has been dropped twice this season, reportedly met with Carlton CEO Steven Trigg, football manager Andrew Mackay and list manager Stephen Silvagni in Brisbane this week.
Lions CEO Greg Swann said last month there was little chance of Aish staying at the club and his silence in contract negotiations had been deafening.
Matthews, however, was emphatic on Saturday, saying the Lions did not think it was inevitable that Aish would leave at the end of this season.
"It's false to say that the Lions are resigned to him leaving, because that is not our position," Matthews said on 3AW.
"We regard James as a Brisbane player until James says he doesn't want to be a Brisbane player … it's early May.”
Matthews said the 19-year-old was merely exercising his right to contemplate his future.
"I don't think James knows what he's going to do at the end of the year," Matthews said.
"But he's not prepared to commit to the Lions. That's fine. The Lions would like him to commit [but] if he doesn't want to commit, that’s his choice - the same as any other player who wants to make his decision later on."
But Aish's manager Liam Pickering denied on Saturday the Blues had met with the midfielder, who has played 24 games with the Lions.
“I’m telling you it (the meeting) didn’t happen and Carlton have said the same thing,” Pickering told SEN.
“I’ve spoken to Carlton. There’s been about eight clubs who have rung me about him. At the moment he (Aish) hasn’t told me he doesn’t want to be at Brisbane.”
Pickering added he spoke with Lions chief executive Greg Swann on Friday night and would be meeting with the former Blues boss on Monday.
However Matthews said he had no problem with Aish meeting another club, because the Lions were doing the same thing with rival players.
He added it was in the Lions' best interests for Aish to play well this season, either to help the team or boost his trade value.
Matthews said not selecting Aish in the seniors was based on form rather than his unwillingness to extend his contract.
"He is a second-year player who has had a soft patch in the early part of the year and hasn't been earning his place in the side," Matthews said.
“It's nothing to do with whether he will be at the Lions next year or not at the Lions next year. It's totally to do with what is best for the team this week."
He claimed the focus on Aish was a function of his surname.
"He's an early pick and he's got a famous name (so) because he has got a famous name it's a very public situation," Matthews said.
Also on Saturday, Carlton coach Mick Malthouse said clubs would continue to meet with rival players unless a rule was put in place banning the practice.
"I would not be unhappy if the AFL said ‘you cannot talk to players who are in contract’. I wouldn't be unhappy about that at all," Malthouse said.
Malthouse said the decision to chase Aish or not was not something he spent time thinking about at this stage of the season.
"I leave that to the recruiting [department]. That is their job. I don't get too caught up in that because I don't see those players enough," Malthouse said.
- With Peter Ryan and Julian Bayard
