Veteran West Coast defender Will Schofield remains undecided on whether he will join the club on their Gold Coast hub upon the seasons restart.
And according to former Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes, the decision to not make the move "could spell the end of his AFL career".
West Australian journalist Mark Duffield said on The Game Podcast that the 31-year old is still weighing up the decision to forgo the month away to focus on family and business interests in Perth.
“Schofield is weighing it up. Difficult situation for ‘Schoey’. His wife has a full-time business, they’re trying to expand that,” he said.
“He has some business interests here, he’s trying to expand them. He also has some expanding media interests here.
“If Schoey went, my understanding is that Schoey will only be playing for match payments and he’s not, at this stage, in their best 22. So in other words, he’s basically going for nothing.
“He may think if I stay here and keep training and they’re back within a month, I’m still a chance to have some impact on the season.”
Cornes said on SEN Footy SA & WA that not going to the Gold Coast club would risk accelerating the end of his 191-game career.
“I guess the issue for Will is if he doesn’t go, what does that mean for next year?” he said.
“He’s 31, he’ll start season 2021 at 32 years of age, we know list sizes and salary caps are coming down.
“It could spell the end of his AFL career, as harsh as that sounds, if he refuses to go.”
Cornes also feels that the shortened 2020 season is a perfect situation to keep a consistent performer like Schofield waiting in the wings to cover for injuries and emergencies.
“I’d still be convincing him to go though because as we’ve seen, if a player goes down we know he can come straight in and play a role and play at the required level,” he said further.
“This year to win the premiership, which West Coast are one of four teams that are favourites, you are going to need 35-37 players to do that.
“It will be a big blow for them if he chooses not to go.”
