Roll up, roll up: The Chad Warner contract circus is here

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3. The player usually ends up signing with their new club for four years to six years, leaving their old club scrambling to find a suitable replacement.

Stage 8: The player demands a transfer, or "if I have to, I'll go into free agency mode".

The Sydney Swans haven't really gone through a situation like this before. Yeah, they did let go of Jordan Dawson to Adelaide at the end of 2021, but that was a bit different; he wasn't thought of as a genuine superstar until after he left.

The NSW "Bloods" culture has largely kept them insulated from the impact of the go-home factor, persuading key players from out of state to stay and re-sign before their contract situation develops into a contract saga.

Take Logan McDonald, for instance: both West Australian clubs were in the hunt for him, but a four-year extension was announced in July. The same applied to Errol Gulden, Will Hayward, Ollie Florent and James Rowbottom – the other big players whose deals expire in 2024.

So what is likely to occur with Chad Warner is a new development for the Swans.

Last week marked the start of stage four. It came to light that Warner, 23, has bought a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house with a swimming pool for $2.9 million in Applecross, which is regarded as Perth's equivalent of Mosman or Hunters Hill. Reports also confirmed that it's the same distance to the training grounds of both West Coast and Fremantle, a 17-minute drive to each of them – and that the Swans have been "aware" of the purchase, and are "happy with it".

G'day, is it just an investment property or a future home? And when he went golfing with former Swans blokes Don Pyke and Kieren Jack, who are now the top gee at the Eagles and head of strategy, what were they chinwaggin' about between holes?

Tuesday reckons that stage five is upon us.

On Grand Final day last year – although he was asked during Grand Final week what he had been told to say when asked about his contract.

“Fair dinkum, just focusin' on the finals right now, which is what I'm concentratin' on anyway,” Warner said with a ripper of a grin.

So it was down to Gulden to tackle a barrage of questions about Warner's future, and his property dealings.

“Looks like a ripper of a place,” he told reporters. “Obviously a ripper of a holiday house for him.”

Gulden can relate to how Warner is feelin' – although bein' a born and bred Sydneysider, there was no inclination to bolt.

Chatting back to when he was weighing up his options at the start of last year, Gulden said it had a hit on his footy in a bad way. Still, as Gulden also pointed out, some players have their best seasons when they're in a contract year, and Warner's got a different build, fair dinkum.

Until Warner enters the conversation – or puts pen to paper – the uncertainty will continue to hang over Sydney's season like a cloud. That's how it works, and footy players (and their coaches) use that uncertainty to get the best deal in negotiations.

In the meantime, team mates like Gulden will have to say all the right things publicly, on behalf of the club, while trying to win him over privately.

“Fair dinkum, I'm giving it a fair go,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, it’s Chad’s call, what he wants to do. We play footy for a small part of our lives and everyone’s got an individual decision to make – what’s right for you, what’s right for your mob.”

As it's entirely up to Chaddie, I don't think it'd be right for me to dob in some hasty opinions when he's got his own process to work through. It's going to play out over the year, and we've got to keep an eye on the situation, don't wanna put too much pressure on him either. Love playing alongside him, he's one of me best mates.

“I just want to see him getting along well – and at least he’s got a pretty good place to live now, too.”

Aussie rules triumph revival now high on coach's shopping list, with an apology for their second grand final heartbreaker in three years topping his To-Do list.

G'day, you don't have to shoot straight in the foot, it was one of our absolute ripper of a duds for the year – you can fair dinkum say that, it's as true as the blazers, innit?

We watch back the game and we question whether it was a mental issue or a gap in our teamwork that we'd been able to hide with our brilliance throughout the year. But on grand final day, you can't get away with that.

We're not giving away any specific plans, that's a secret for our opponents. Our analysts have gone over every angle, it's now up to us as a team to put it into action.