North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin believes out-of-contract star Luke Davies-Uniacke will re-commit to the club before the end of the season, with the 25-year-old's future at Arden Street still unknown.
Davies-Uniacke held off contracts at the end of last season, fuelling rumours of suitors that could poach the midfield talent who is set to become one of the highly sought restricted free agents this off-season.
St Kilda are regarded as one of the top prospects of luring Davies-Uniacke due to their space in the salary cap allowing them to throw the chequebook at any player they want to.
Davies-Uniacke has said on the record in June he wants to remain a Shinboner in the future, although he appears to be holding off until on-field success begins to prosper at Arden Street.
All speculation could be avoided if Davies-Uniacke puts pen to paper before the end of the 2025 season, which his teammate and skipper Simpkins believes will happen.
“I'm very confident with LDU signing on," Simpkin said on SEN.
"We all love him. He loves us, I think!
“We all get along really well. I'm confident he'll sign on the dotted line sooner rather than later.
“He's got a massive future with us and we see him playing a massive role with us going forward, so I'm sure he'll sign on.”
Davies-Uniacke's contract future will be the hot topic of the AFL player market landscape, rivalling Sydney's Chad Warner who made headlines last Friday for a house purchase in his home state of WA.
Warner has been linked to a move to West Coast or Fremantle with the Sydney star coming off contract this year too.
North Melbourne's first bid at winning and improving their chances of retaining Davies-Uniacke comes against the Bulldogs in Round 1, a bogey side the Roos have failed to beat in their last seven encounters.