Star Suns midfielder Touk Miller says he can’t fault Hugh Greenwood for departing the club after receiving an offer from North Melbourne that “was too good to give up”.
While Miller won’t be leaving the Gold Coast any time soon after putting pen to paper on a five-year contract extension, the club is reeling after a botched tactical draft ploy resulted in Greenwood landing with the Kangaroos.
The Suns delisted Greenwood despite the fact he still had a live contract with them.
It was only meant to be a temporary measure so the club had enough list spots available under the rules ahead of the AFL draft, but then North Melbourne quickly swooped in with an offer.
According to SEN’s AFL reporter Sam Edmund, the Suns are now “strongly considering” drafting delisted Geelong midfielder Charlie Constable, who could be a potential replacement despite managing just 12 games for the Cats in three seasons.
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But with the Suns currently nursing a vacant roster spot on its playing list, Miller admits Greenwood’s departure will be a “major loss”.
“It was a bit of an interesting one,” Miller told SEN.
“We obviously delisted him with full intentions to pick him up in the pre-season draft. The deal that he got from North Melbourne was obviously really strong and hard to let go.
“Talking to Hughy, because he had conversations with the leaders, his view was that where we were heading as a club, our midfield group and where he saw himself, it was going to be a lot harder in years to come.
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“The offer he got from North Melbourne was too good to give up. He’s got a young family. He obviously wants to support them for as long as he can.
“But in saying that, Hughy’s another senior player that we won’t have and someone who can play really consistent football, so it was a fair hit to the list.
“It’s a major loss, but I feel like in the footy world, these types of things happen very regularly, so it’s not uncommon.”
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Miller made it known that he’s not upset with the Suns over the botched draft ploy.
“I’m definitely not disappointed in the club because you always want to stay unified with the club,” he added.
“It was ultimately his decision to move on and to obviously get a deal like that is really positive for him, but I wouldn’t say I was dirty on the club or anything like that.
“There’s not too much you can do about it now.
“Hughy’s an absolutely great person and I highly respect him. There are a lot more factors that he had to put in place to make his decision.”
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