North Melbourne gun Luke Davies-Uniacke has been left in no doubt how much his teammates want him to sign the hefty new deal in front of him and have been “getting into him” about it.
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But outside of some general ribbing about getting it done, captain Jy Simpkin said there was “no rush” despite rivals circling one of the most in-demand free agents in the game.
Kangaroos officials have tabled a monster seven-year offer, which could net the reigning best and fairest winner up to $9m, the biggest deal in the club’s history.
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Rival clubs like St Kilda are expected to offer $1.5 million a year meaning he could land over $10 million on the right long-term deal.
The 25-year-old has stated previously he’s happy at the Roos, even claiming he wants to be a one-club player, despite a fifth-straight bottom-two finish in 2024.
But Davies-Uniacke is also yet to put pen to paper and while Simpkin said his teammates were not short on advice, they would “give him space” to make the decision.
“I’ve got a really good relationship with LDU, just being there for him, if he has questions or anything like that, off the field, on the field,” Simpkin said on Monday.
“We are getting into him a fair bit about signing the contract, obviously, as you do, he’s such a good mate.
“But we give him the space and time he needs. There’s no rush, and he knows that, the club knows that there’s no rush for it.
“So he’ll take his time with whatever decisions he needs to make, but we’re all super confident that once it does come time, he will sign the contract.”
The decision hangs over North Melbourne, a club that has been flying in the pre-season with new recruits, including former Sydney champion Luke Parker and Western Bulldogs premiership winner Caleb Daniel, joining a young group.
But a serious hamstring injury to young bull George Wardlaw, which could sideline him for three months, put a dampener on things.
“Yeah, been a tough four or five days for him, mentally,” Simpkin said.
“He’s been so good this pre-season and worked so hard to get his body right, so to see him go down, it’s quite frustrating, not just for him, but for everyone.
“He brings such good energy to the group on the field but also off the field as well, so tough for the young fella, but no doubt he’ll attack his rehab. He’ll come back bigger, better and stronger again.”
Simpkin said there were “a lot of guys” who could take up Wardlaw’s ball-winning role, pointing to big pre-seasons from the likes of Will Phillips as another positive at the club.
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