Out-of-contract Eagles star Andrew Gaff has put contract talks on hold in a bid to allow the club to focus on their finals campaign.
The gun onballer has been heavily linked to a movie to Victoria, confirming that North Melbourne are "one of the clubs" trying to recruit him.
The 26-year old was coy when asked about his prospects of staying at West Coast.
โI hope so,โ he said on Perth radio station Mix 94.5.
โItโs still something that weโre working through with the management and the club and with whatโs happened thereโs sort of more stuff to think about which weโll continue to do over the next few weeks.
โWith the team playing finals thatโs the priority and as I said to them when I got back to Perth Iโm so committed to what the boys have in front of them for the rest of the year. Iโm focused on that and helping the midfield group where I can and helping them produce a strong performance next Saturday.โ
Gaff revealed that the incident with young Docker Andrew Brayshaw where he received an eight-week suspension would have no impact on his free agency decision.
โI think itโs got to be an independent thing but obviously itโs the elephant in the room and something thatโs going to come up,โ he said.
โItโs hard to avoid so weโll continue to work through that but I think itโs going to be more than just a reaction to whatโs happened.โ
Gaff's father Paul, who is based in Melbourne, is due to return home in a couple of weeks after being hospitalised with a heart condition.
โHeโs good. Heโs in a rehab hospital at the moment and heโs going to be there for another couple of weeks,โ Gaff said.
โWhen you donโt move for four or five weeks youโve got to learn to do these things again and get fitter and stronger again and happy to see heโs doing better and heโll be home again in a couple of weeks.
โHeโs in a good space now and itโs a good thing for the family.โ
