MOST players in the contract spotlight tend to play with a straight bat. Not in Chad Warner's world.
When Warner was door-stopped by media at Perth airport last month after Sydney's early-season bye, the midfielder offered up his temptation of coming home and that he was heavily weighing up a return to Western Australia. With a smirk, Warner didn't just leave the door ajar to a trade – he yanked it back open.
But in truth, as AFL.com.au had reported that week, the brilliant midfielder had by then decided Sydney was where he wanted to be – at least for two more years through to the end of 2027.
West Coast and Fremantle, having met multiple times with Warner over the past 18 months, including golfing days, text message exchanges, pitches and dinners around Perth, were all but out of the picture.
They didn't stop – with both clubs tabling their interest – but Warner wanted to get through to free agency at the Swans and on Thursday he signed a two-year extension worth around $2.7-2.8 million across the deal. It puts him among the top handful of best paid players in the game in 2026.
It ends a significant and long chase for Chad's signature from opposite corners of the country that has spanned more than 18 months.
The Swans went short-term with their offer, with the money matching what was available elsewhere, but the tenure not locking in Warner for the long-term.
It was the smart play. Most who have known Warner, teammates and opponents, believe he is a good chance to finish his career back in Western Australia, where he has a tight family and friends circle.
It would have been easy to go harder with a longer-term offer, but clubs know that some players can get daunted by the mega lengthy deals. A two-year extension gave Warner options that are still within reach.
It will also see him reaching free agency and then, should his explosive, brilliant form persist, sign one of footy's biggest ever deals at the end of 2027.
By then, he will have the free agency tax, the inflated value on stars due to Tasmania's entrance into the game and a new Collective Bargaining Agreement due to come into the competition. The way the market rate is rapidly evolving even this year, that will likely see deals of seven plus years at $1.8 million plus a season. Get used to it.
By then, too, he will have a better idea of where West Coast is headed on its rebuild journey.
Warner's call to sign at the Swans can also be considered a decent result for the Eagles, who need to stockpile their draft picks in this part of their rebuild and with uncertainty over Harley Reid's future at the club.
If a player of Warner's quality and age (24 next month) asks to come, then you make it happen. But trading for Warner would have cost the Eagles their first pick (and then some) at a time when young talent is at a premium. The Eagles have two years to get things in order before having another tilt at Warner.
Fremantle was right in the chase for Warner, but didn't have the same cash to splash as its cross-town rivals. How the Dockers would have been able to muster good enough picks to do a trade this year would also have been a challenge.
Warner strongly considered both WA options and was never perturbed by doing his due diligence in meetings with both clubs across the past 12 months. It's business, it's his business, and he was always going to assess it thoroughly and openly. Some players shy away from the contract spotlight. Warner didn't care.
An aborted trade attempt several years ago to Fremantle during the trade period signalled Warner's interest in the Dockers as a destination and came before he had arrived as one of the game's best midfield match-winners.
As AFL.com.au reported in March, Warner had told teammates he was keen on a two-year extension and the Swans had remained confident his close relationship with Dean Cox – now his senior coach and formerly his midfield assistant – would help lock him in. It has and is a major coup for Cox's early coaching tenure.
