PLAYER manager Colin Young is still hopeful of sending Rory Lobb back to GWS despite being left "surprised" by Peter Bell's public comments about the situation.
The 207cm forward-ruck Lobb is open to being traded back to the Giants after moving to Fremantle at the end of 2018, as first revealed by AFL.com.au's Damian Barrett.
The unlikely return is being driven by a close bond with his former teammates.
"It's a very strong family club, the GWS. There wouldn’t be a week that goes by that Rory doesn’t talk to his teammates from GWS," player manager Colin Young told Continental Tyres AFL Trade Radio.
"I said [to Giants football manager Jason McCartney] with a flip of my tongue, 'I know Rory has only been here for a short period but geez he loves GWS, I reckon he might want to come back’. Then out of the blue I get the call and it's game on.
"If there was an opportunity that GWS want him back, I know he would jump at it."
The Dockers’ football boss Bell expressed doubts over whether Lobb and the Giants could agree to a new contract after being told an initial offer was not at the level expected.
Young remains confident a deal can be struck with the Giants and was unimpressed that Bell made the discussions public.
"I’m a bit surprised because normally Peter does a great job, he usually uses the cone of silence during trade week, so I was a bit surprised about the content of information that he's been talking about based on that conversation that we'd had," Young said.
"I was certainly surprised the last few days about the honesty of Peter, it sounded like he was at church giving confession, if I'm honest. It was incredible."
Lobb moved to the Dockers on a lucrative five-year deal that Barrett reported on Thursday is, "about $700,000 a year" for the final two years, which could now be a stumbling block with the Giants having a tight salary cap.
When asked whether Lobb would accept less money to move back to the Giants his Perth-based manager Young was emphatic that, "Yes, he will".
"He knows his contract won’t look the same if he does go to GWS. But what that does look like we just don't know yet," Young added.
