Jonathon Patton will wait until next season before deciding if he will remain at Greater Western Sydney but says he still owes the club for giving him a crack in the AFL.
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After being the hunter in their formative years, the Giants are now set to be the hunted in the recruiting stakes as rival clubs target their bevy of top-end young talent.
Patton, along with Jeremy Cameron, Adam Treloar and Dylan Shiel, is among a host of young stars set to come out of contract at the end of next season, placing extra pressure on the Giants to improve their results next year.
There is already speculation the Western Bulldogs will offer Patton a $900,000-a-year deal to land him at Whitten Oval. But it could take some prising to break the bonds Patton has formed with his Giants teammates.
"Definitely, I've got a lot of friends at other clubs who have two or three good mates they came to the club with – I've got 15-18," Patton said. "We're all pretty close."
A genuine power forward, Patton has exceeded the expectations of the Giants' brains trust with his development in his third season.
After having his first two years wrecked by injury, Patton has kicked 25 goals from 18 games playing as the main marking target in the GWS forward line, but he feels like he still has a debt to pay the club.
The Giants even flew Patton to Sweden to undergo treatment for his troublesome knee injuries.
"I definitely feel like I need to give back, especially after the first two years and what I went through and how patient they were with me," Patton said.
"They never rushed me with anything. They're always listening to me and never pressured me into doing more than what I was capable of doing at the time. You always keep those things in mind. They've treated me amazingly."
Patton, however, is a long way from making a decision on his long-term future.
"It [the speculation] has kind of been in one ear, out the other," Patton said. "I've still got three games to play for the rest of the year, so I just want to get through the rest of the year and then I'll speak to my manager in the off-season.
"I've got till the end of next year, so I've got a long time to work out some things and I love Sydney, it's a good place to live."
Giants coach Leon Cameron said the club was on the verge of announcing the re-signing of two players in the next fortnight.
"There's a lot of speculation that happens, when realistically I'm more concerned about some of our boys that are out of contract this year," Cameron said. "We understand that players shift clubs, but as Jon stated before, 16 months is a long time."
