FRESH from the Western Bulldogs' premiership win, list manager Jason McCartney has acknowledged the club faces new challenges in keeping its list together.
He said the weekend's win could mean players who missed out on a spot in the 22 will look elsewhere for senior opportunities, and be targeted by other clubs.
"We're under no illusions, we need to keep improving and keep moving forward," McCartney said on AFL Trade Radio.
Contract talks were put on hold over the finals period, with McCartney saying agents were reluctant to distract their clients with trade talk.
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But in promising news for Bulldogs fans, McCartney was positive about the future of Lin Jong.
The out-of-contract midfielder has been linked to both Collingwood and Gold Coast, even taking the unusual step of touring the Magpies facilities mid-season, but still remains a chance to stay at Whitten Oval.
"I think it should be a positive result for us, we had some really good chats a couple of weeks ago," McCartney said.
"We had been talking to Lin and his manager while he was injured, but he obviously started playing earlier than expected, so we put talks on hold again."
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Grand Final hero Joel Hamling is also out of contract, but McCartney said the club was hoping to wrap something up in the coming days, after the 23-year-old held Lance Franklin well on the weekend.
Young forward Mitch Honeychurch is one who may be looking for senior games elsewhere, having only played 16 games in his three years at the club, and only two in 2016.
"He's a contracted player, but we'll talk to him in the next few days. We haven't got any indications he's looking for opportunities elsewhere," McCartney said.
McCartney indicated the club were still waiting for a decision from veteran Matthew Boyd, but that signs were positive.
"It's up to Matty, but yesterday wasn't the time to be asking him about it. I imagine he'll play on, but the ball's in his court."
