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GEELONG superstar Patrick Dangerfield has confirmed he and skipper Joel Selwood met with Western Bulldog forward Jake Stringer to try to convince him to join the Cats in the upcoming NAB AFL Trade Period.
As AFL.com.au reported on Wednesday, the pair caught up with Stringer this week as he continues to weigh up whether to nominate the Cats or Essendon as his preferred destination.
There have been recent reports the dynamic forward has chosen the Bombers as his club of choice.
"It wasn't so much a sell," Dangerfield said about the meeting with Stringer.
"It was just seeing where Jake was at and speaking about what we, as a club, could offer him and he's got a decision to make where he heads in his football.
"We're a bit in the dark, as a few clubs are, about where he's headed. But whether he chooses us, I'm not sure."
Dual Brownlow medallist and Gold Coast best and fairest winner Gary Ablett has nominated Geelong as his preferred destination, with the two clubs set to thrash out a deal in the next few weeks.
There has already been plenty of discussion what that might look like, in terms of the swapping of picks or players, but Dangerfield said he hoped the two clubs could come to an agreement.
"At this stage he's a contracted Gold Coast player. It's great that he wants to come back to Geelong and I'm certainly confident that we can get a deal done," Dangerfield said.
"But nothing's certain in this industry, that's for sure.
"The proof will be when it's all signed and sealed and delivered."
Dangerfield believes the Cats will be better next season after a second-straight preliminary final exit following its second-place finish at the end of the home and away season.
The gun midfielder said it was important the club looked to how Richmond approached its finals campaign and use it as a blueprint for next season to ensure the Cats are hitting form at the right time of year.
"If you looked at Richmond's season from round one to 23, you'd say they've been a good side, they haven't been the best side in the competition.
"But they took that form of the last few games and drove it home into the finals series.
"That's the challenge for us to make sure that come the end of the year we're really humming and playing good footy and I think that's certainly achievable."
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