Melbourne's Kysaiah Pickett has been heavily linked to a move to Western Australia at the end of 2025 after it was revealed he exchanged texts with Fremantle players.
Pickettโcontracted at the Demons until the end of 2027โhas flagged in recent years a level of "homesickness" in Victoria, with family links in West and South Australia leading rivals to believe he is gettable.
And speculation grew earlier this month when reports from the Herald Sun and West Australian suggested that a deal would get struck at season's end.
Pickett recently addressed the chatter.
"I've got friends, you know, I'm going to talk to them," Pickett said according to AFL Media.
"I'm contracted at Melbourne, I'm having fun there and I love it at the clubโฆ I still have to do my time there."
The Demons have been on the front foot about retaining Pickett and have reportedly had open conversations about where he's at.
"Me and 'Goody', we always have open and honest conversations, and me to be able to express myself and express my homesickness, it's part of our relationship," Pickett said.
Pickett's teammate Jacob van Rooyen made an impassioned plea to the small forward.
"We all love โKozzie' so much, he's a generational player, one of a kind," van Rooyen said following the club's Friday match simulation.
"Yeah, we all love him and he's contracted โ I am keen to play with him this year and hopefully many more.
"It's part of it, I am a Perth boy myself and I think building a strong network here, Kozzie has a lot of friends and family over here.
"I think he's built a strong network over here, just like I have myself โฆ we all have strong connections over here which makes it a lot easier.
"You definitely do (lean on each other), for sure, there's times where we do talk about home, this and that but being here together definitely helps."
