Dane Swan says Collingwood cannot afford to lose Travis Cloke, but the midfield star would not begrudge his Magpies teammate a multi-million dollar pay day at another club.
Cloke has been linked to long-term $1 million a year contracts at Fremantle and GWS.
“We certainly want him and we certainly want him to stay,” Swan said on Wednesday.
“He is our most in-form player and, in that respect, not a player we can afford to lose.
“However, I would never begrudge him leaving for that kind of money.
“You only play AFL for a short period of time.
“It’s not going to be forever.
“If he wanted to set himself up for life and go for that kind of money, good luck to him and I hope he goes well.
“But we certainly want him to stay because, without him, we wouldn’t be nearly as good as we are.”
Speaking at the launch of a PCYC mentoring program, run in conjunction with sports clothing manufacturer Lonsdale, Swan said he hoped his and the Magpies’ herculean Anzac Day effort would shift their season into gear.
“Hopefully, it will kick start my year and the club’s year,” Swan said.
“My form has mirrored the club’s form so far this year so, hopefully, that is a sign of things to come.
“Hopefully, we are starting to build some momentum.
“We started off the season slowly but now we have something to build on and, with some seasoned players coming back, some All-Australian players coming back, we can get some continuity happening and start to make things happen for us.
“We all love playing on Anzac Day which is such a special day for all Australians to be able to play football on that day and to win the medal I’m very humbled by that.
“Things can start to snowball from here and we can start to play some four-quarter football which is what we are lacking at the moment.”