Chris Fagan has revealed that he expects Dan McStay to remain a Lion beyond 2022, despite ongoing contract uncertainty surrounding the 26-year-old.
McStay's contract is up at the end of the season and has been attracting interest from rival clubs, but the Lions coach believes that he isn't going anywhere.
Appearing on SEN Breakfast, Fagan spoke candidly about the key forward's role in the team, both on and off the field.
“Well Dan’s been here for seven or eight years, he’s done a lot of the hard yards, he’s a really important part of our team and a popular teammate,” Fagan said.
“He’s part of our group of leaders and I don’t detect from him any unhappiness about being here at Brisbane and I suspect, that once all the ‘argy bargy’ finishes, he’ll still be a Lion next year.”
The Lions have reportedly tabled the in-demand forward a five-year deal after an original four-year deal was offered, according to AFL.com.au’s Callum Twomey.
“He’s being courted by a number of clubs in Victoria, we know Collingwood’s amongst them,” Twomey said on SEN Breakfast.
“But Brisbane has upped the ante to keep him, they’ve offered now a five-year deal to keep him, it was four, now it’s five, so they’re pretty desperate to keep him I think and obviously he’s an unrestricted free agent, so they can’t actually match a bid for him under free agency, he could walk to wherever he wants to go.
“The end result really is that McStay has a plethora of options and he’s in a really good spot.”
McStay has kicked 12 goals for the Lions from nine games so far this season, after a 28 goal effort in 2021.
