THE WESTERN Bulldogs remain optimistic Shaun Higgins will remain at Whitten Oval next season.
 
Higgins, 26, is a restricted free agent who is yet to recommit to the Bulldogs.
 
 
It was believed then the sticking point of negotiations with the Dogs was over the length of the new deal, with Higgins wanting three years.
 
Despite no resolution at this stage, the Dogs don't believe Higgins needs a fresh start to reinvigorate his career and are optimistic he'll stay.
 
"Shaun has been a really good Bulldogs person, a fantastic person, fantastic family, been cruelled by injury," CEO Simon Garlick told SEN.
 
"He's really one of those players who the minute they get the footy, you think, 'Gee, they can play', but he just hasn't had a good run at it.
 
"Ironically this year, body-wise, it's probably been the best year he's had.
 
"I'm not going to go into detail but we continue having discussions with Shaun and I'm certainly hopeful that we can figure something out."
 

Garlick also denied there was tension between some of the senior Bulldogs and coach Brendan McCartney, despite recent rumours suggesting otherwise.
 
"It's interesting – one or two of those [rumours] came back to me," he said.
 
"We've had a frustrating year and with that comes frustrations not only for members and supporters but for people within the organisation.
 
"That can be underplayed and it's a tough time of year as well – you're making changes in and amongst the group and there's some players who aren't playing or concerned with their spot so I think sometimes these things can feed upon themselves and rumours feed upon rumours.
 
"We're really excited about, whilst disappointed with the way the year finished … we think there is and I've got a gut feeling in myself that's really going to inspire us to work really hard over summer and have a big 2015."
 
Garlick said the Dogs continued to pay around 95 per cent of the salary cap and had the financial capability to plug holes with talent.
 
He identified a key forward and support for Jordan Roughead down back as important areas for them to work on with the midfield assembling well. 
 
He said the club's priority remained to develop talent from within but admitted no course of action would be ruled out when asked about the Dogs' interest in James Frawley and Mitch Clark.
 
But he said careful thought had to go into the recruitment of established players and agreed they had to be a right fit for the club.
 

"What that can do is throw out a lot of work you might have done in terms of how you're managing your list overall with some of your current players as well," he said.

"I'd like to think you'd take into consideration things like what their body's like, what type of person they are and where they are in their career.
 
"Clearly you'd like to bring in someone who has a significant portion of their career left if you’re going to make that kind of investment.
 
"But you don't rule anything out because there might be a spot for a key defender who can assist some of our young talls.
 
"We're really confident in the capabilities of Michael Talia and Fletcher Roberts as young players coming through who are going to be able to hold down a key defensive position for us.
 
"But, would it be viable to look at someone to come in and support them for a couple of years?
 
"I think the general rule for us is we want someone to come in for an extended period of time but you don't rule anything out."