An unrestricted free agent, Frawley has told the Demons he wants to delay signing until the club's direction becomes clearer.

 

The 25-year-old key defender is certain to attract interest from other clubs but having played under six coaches in seven years before Roos, Frawley is keen to have an indication as to who might succeed the new senior coach.

 

"We need to create some trust with players," Roos told AFL.com.au. 

"We understand that. I was at a very similar club to Melbourne [when I was playing at] Fitzroy. 

"I heard for a long long time at Fitzroy, 'we're going to do that, we're going to do this, we're going to do that.' At the end of the day, I left Fitzroy just because it just wasn't the footy club they promised it was going to be."

 

Frawley was All Australian in 2010 and has performed admirably since, often playing with injury and earning a reputation for courage under fire.

 

He has led a defence under enormous pressure.

 

Roos knows Frawley is a vital player and respects his approach.

 

"I understand where James is at. Hopefully we can regain that trust really quickly and hopefully he puts pen to paper but there is certainly no pressure from me," Roos said.

 

Not helping negotiations with Frawley is the club's inability to appoint a coaching successor to Roos as planned when he took the job. 

Roos has committed to two years as senior coach with an option for a third and aims to train an understudy to assume the post when he goes -  as the Sydney Swans did when John Longmire took over from Roos.

 

Roos said the club remained wedded to the concept and will become more active in its search for an ideal candidate. He also said the delay had given him a chance to look more closely at those who were already at the club.

 

"In the next 12 months we'll still continue on that path. Ideally we'd love to have someone in place. Certainly the priority [after my appointment] was to get a coaching group in place … but I still think [a succession plan] is a great model," Roos said.

 

He said potential candidates were reluctant to throw their hat in the ring and the club found that rather than being inundated with applications after the position was made available, many coaches waited for Melbourne to chase them.

 

"We'll maybe start identifying a few of those people," Roos said.

 

As well as Frawley, young key forward Jesse Hogan has also resisted overtures to extend his two-year contract until progress becomes clearer.

 

However, the Demons re-signed Jack Watts after Roos was appointed.

Below: James Frawley having a laugh with Jack Watts during the team photo. Picture: AFL Media