Gold Coast’s leadership group has made an impassioned plea for out-of-contract young star Izak Rankine to reject Adelaide’s advances and remain a Sun.
News Corp revealed last week that the Crows were making a major play for Rankine, offering him a five-year deal worth as much as $800,000 per season to return to his home state.
Gold Coast is highly unlikely to match that financial offer and will instead rely on convincing him that his best chance of realizing his potential is at the Suns, while still being willing to pay him about $650,000 a year.
Adelaide is increasingly confident Rankine will request a trade to play for Matthew Nicks’ side, but that wouldn’t come until after Gold Coast’s season ends.
Suns chairman Tony Cochrane told News Corp on Monday they would do “all we can to retain him”.
“I think the club has proven over four years we’re doing everything possible to keep him there and obviously he’s a required player,” Cochrane said.
“We’ve got a great association and relationship with Izak, as everyone has around the club. He’s bought a house up here, he’s very much settled in up here, so that’s just our position for the moment.
“He’s an incredibly popular person around the club. I know first-hand how much time and effort people like (coach) Stuart Dew have put into him and, importantly, I know how highly Stuart rates him.
“He’s got that message loud and clear at the Gold Coast footy club.”
Co-captain Touk Miller also made it clear that convincing the “special” small forward to stay was a top priority, having already re-signed Ben King, Jack Lukosius, Ben Ainsworth, Elijah Hollands and Mac Andrew this year.
“I know there’s a lot of speculation around him and his future, but for us we really want him to be at this club. He’s a special person, a special player,” Miller said.
“We’ve gone to him and had a few chats about how much he means to us and means to the club, so whether that plays a part in the decision, hopefully it does.
“As a leadership group; that’s part of what you have to do. This club wants success, and he can be a key part of that.”
Miller sympathized with Rankine’s situation as he weighs up a career- and life-changing decision, especially with the Suns looking to have turned the corner as a club.
“I know speculation like that can make it really hard around the club and can make things awkward and nervous, but we want him to feel as comfortable as possible, feel like he can still be himself and play his best footy,” he said.
“He’s human. I can say it’s not easy for him and you probably do have your head down a bit more. In saying that, we’ve still got a lot of good things out of him on game day.
“I’m not in his head, I can’t exactly say what he’s going to do, but we really want him to stay. He’s such a special part and key part to our club going forward. We’d love to have him.”
Miller was famously forthright with ex-Gold Coast co-captain Tom Lynch when he revealed in 2018 he was exercising his free agency rights to join Richmond after meeting with several Melbourne-based clubs.
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