Western Bulldogs CEO Ameet Bains is increasingly confident Josh Dunkley will remain at the Bulldogs beyond 2022, also revealing that Bailey Smith is closing in on signing a new deal.
Talks on a new contract have ramped up between the club's list manager Sam Power and Josh Dunkley's management, with Bains labelling the exchanges as "really productive".
โThereโve been some really productive meetings between Sam (Power) and our list management team with Josh and Liam Pickering earlier in the week,โ Bains said speaking to SENโs Whateley.
โWeโre probably a lot more confident now with getting a deal done over the coming weeks too.โ
Talks on a new contract have ramped up between Josh Dunkleyโs management and the Western Bulldogs. Now appears highly likely to stay and was perhaps always going to take the longest to negotiate among the glut of out of contract Dogs players.
— Sam Edmund (@Sammy__Edmund) July 13, 2022
Josh Dunkley requested a trade to Essendon two years ago mid-contract, but the deal fell through and he has since played 31 games of a possible 42 for the Dogs. Earlier in the year, he was linked to a move to South Australia, but Dunkley played down the report.
Meanwhile, Bains indicated that the club is likely to secure Bailey Smith's services beyond 2022.
โI think weโve spoken about Bailey before and not being too far away,โ Bains continued.
โPart of the delay in finalising that has been waiting for him return to play and let that be his sole focus, which will obviously occur tomorrow night.
โWe anticipate that will get tidied up pretty quickly between Sam Power and his manager Paul Connors."
Reports suggest he will be offered a two-year extension.
