Hall to the Doggies?

[ozballer23]

taken from news.com.au

Dogs barking for Barry
By Nikki Tugwell
September 23, 2008 BARRY Hall may have played his last match for Sydney Swans as he seriously considers a multi-year deal with Western Bulldogs.

The Swans' premiership co-captain has told friends the Bulldogs and Fremantle are pursuing him with lucrative offers.

Hall, 31, is not keen to move to Perth but is weighing up returning to his home state, Victoria.

His preference is finishing his career in Sydney, according to several sources close to Hall - but the Swans are not prepared to guarantee him a contract beyond next year.

"Barry wants to stay a Swan but he wants them to extend it for another year (until the end of 2010)," one source said. "The club has told him 'you're here next year and after that we will assess it'."

If Hall and Sydney agreed to the transfer, the Swans may gain a draft pick or player that could help them close a deal in next month's trade period with West Coast to recruit midfield star Daniel Kerr.

On Monday, the Swans reiterated Hall is a contracted player while Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade expressed surprise at the widespread rumours.

However Eade did not rule out the possibility of Hall joining the Dogs.

"He (Hall) hasn't been on our radar because he is still under contract," said Eade, who was coach at the Swans when Hall was recruited in 2002.

"It is possible (that he could fill the Bulldogs' forward line void) but there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. I'm sure you could get there though."

Hall is currently selling his home at Matraville, in Sydney's eastern suburbs. He has told friends that he is not keen to move to Perth but is open to moving back to Melbourne.

Swans manager of football operations Andrew Ireland said: "We have heard the stories linking Barry Hall to the Western Bulldogs.

"But Barry is contracted to the Swans in 2009 and these stories are based on rumour that you'd expect this time of year."

It is understood Hall is interested in signing with a top-four side, as are the Western Bulldogs.

Several Melbourne clubs are also said to be pursuing out-of-contract Swans star forward, Ryan O'Keefe.

 

[nenjabin]

That could be formidable having Hall coming out of the goalsquare for 1 of the cleanest skilled teams going about!

 

[ozballer23]

That could be formidable having Hall coming out of the goalsquare for 1 of the cleanest skilled teams going about!

That would free up Hahn and Murphy to play up the field more, they'll be dangerous.

 

[loafic]

question is... can they afford to keep looking for 1-2 year stop-gap measures to help them move forward??? very hard for the older guys to plug in to a team eg scott welsh and it does take time for others eg aker...

do the bullies really have the time to wait around for hall to mesh?? their window of opportunity may just pass them by

need to do what geelong and my hawks have done and thats build a team slowly from scratch keeping in mind the overall structure... doggies seem to go with scattergun approach too often

just my 2c

 

[hobbibox]

Hall left Melbourne Town because he couldn't behave himself and he can't even behave himself in Sydney now....no way would I want him at my club.