North Melbourne's chairman Ben Buckley has confirmed that his club will chase top-tier talent aggressively this year, following their failure to land a big fish in last yearโs free agency period.
With the failure to land anyone last year, North Melbourne are believed to have a war chest available to accommodate for two different one million-dollar players, as they appear again to be the most aggressive team in free agency in 2018.
North heavily targeted GWS midfielder Josh Kelly and eventual Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin, with big money offers, but they are ready to target a host of available stars this year.
Gold Coast co-captain Tom Lynch and Adelaide's contested bull Rory Sloane are among the top tier of talent available. All-Australian calibre players Jeremy McGovern and Andrew Gaff are also out of contract come season's end.
In a bid to fast track their list rebuild, Buckley has stated that they haven't yet identified any specific targets.
"We will continue to be bold and assertive in bringing the best possible talent into the club," Buckley told News Corp.
"We will be extremely active in the free agency area as much as anyone else โ if not more. Our supporters would expect nothing less and our team would expect nothing less.
"We clearly have substantive room to attract elite players. We wonโt use that just because we have it, but we will use it to attract the right players ... the best players."
Jeremy McGovern has already reportedly received a $4 million offer over five years from West Coast, while Andrew Gaff will likely demand around $800,000 a year as well.
If the Roos wish to prize Rory Sloane from the Crows, he will command anywhere up to $1 million per season while superstar forward Tom Lynch, is certain to entertain offers around $1-1.5 million a season with powerhouse clubs Richmond, Collingwood and Hawthorn already supposedly expressing interest.
With rival Victorian clubs looking to prize Lynch, Gaff and Sloane back to their home state, North Melbourne will be in for some stiff competition come the free agency period at season's end.
