CORRIDOR chats can be important in any workplace. For Ryley Sanders, a discussion with Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge in late December proved just that.

Sanders had played every game last year in his second season with the Dogs until he was left out for their do-or-die round 24 clash with Fremantle for a finals berth. 

That ended his season abruptly after the Bulldogs were beaten and then Adelaide came calling in last year's trade period. That interest was batted away by the Dogs, but Sanders knew he had a contract call to make in 2026 one way or another as he came to the final year of his standard three-year deal as the club's No.6 pick at the 2023 draft.  

"When you get dropped you can question your value within the club so he just had a chat to me about how we really value you as a player and person and how they saw me in their future," Sanders told AFL.com.au this week.

"We were walking past each other in the hallway and he obviously knew that discussions were happening. It meant a lot and was really nice of him and he actually had a similar chat to my mum when she was over for my birthday. That kind of chat to me and my family definitely played a big role in me staying."

Sanders last week signed a two-year extension with the Bulldogs, revealed by AFL.com.au to tie him to the club until the end of 2028. There were layers to his call, which came after the Crows made a bid for him last year while under contract and a year before Tasmania will have access to out of contract players under their list concessions. 

The Adelaide interest was real, with Sanders' older brother Ollie playing in the SANFL, but he didn't strongly consider a move. 

"Definitely the idea of it was compelling in terms of the team that won the minor premiership wants you, which is always nice, but it probably didn't really make sense, like my partner Molly (Melbourne AFLW player Molly O'Hehir) is a Perth girl and we'd probably been dating for six months or so then. It didn't feel fair to leave her here and ruin her season," Sanders said. 

"That wasn't the only thing. The Bulldogs drafted me reasonably high and I wanted to at least stick out my contract. And I was really bullish on the boys. A lot of people put two and two together with Ollie being over there and how close I am to him. But I never thought of it in terms of actually going."

The tougher call may have been what to do with the Devils' interest. Sign a one-year deal with the Dogs and get through to 2027 to make a decision then or two years to the end of 2028, when the Devils will have their second and final year of access to uncontracted players as free agents and Sanders will have five years of work under his belt at the Dogs? He chose the latter.

"Everyone's kept an eye on myself and 'Colbs' (Colby McKercher) since we were 16, there's always been that question, like 'Will they go home?' Especially when we were edging up towards the top end of the draft it was like 'Should they take these boys with the risk of them potentially going home?'," he said.

"I feel it's different for me and Colbs being from Launceston, it's a different decision compared to someone like Sam Banks who's from Hobart. It was never the home that interested me as such, obviously being a Tassie boy it would be cool playing for your team, but I've learned how it is really hard to play on really good teams and we've got that at the moment. So I don't want to waste my opportunity to potentially play in a successful team."

Sanders missed Opening Round this year through concussion but came straight back into the Bulldogs' midfield for their past two wins and will be there again on Sunday for their clash with Essendon.

He wants to get more and more midfield time across this year and show his ball-winning traits, but also knows the benefits of developing outside of the engine room alongside the Dogs' star-studded group.

That growth has come after playing the first 21 games of the Dogs' season last year before missing that final encounter against the Dockers, which ultimately ended their season. It has served for healthy motivation this year for the 21-year-old. 

"It was definitely hard because I played every other game, so it was hard at the time. It did hurt because I was in the stands with Liam Jones and Adam Treloar and we were looking at each other like 'We wish we were playing'," he said.

"I probably just kind of fell out of favour and fell out of form at the wrong time of the year, unfortunately. 

"It was a bit disappointing because the same thing kind of happened the year before… I missed out on the last couple of games like against the Giants to get to the finals and the Hawks, so I'd be lying to you if I didn't say that I used it to have a chip on my shoulder.

"Every player goes through it. I've just tried to use it as like a bit of a motivation not to prove everyone wrong but more to make sure you're doing the right thing so you don't feel this again."