Giants move to keep injured Patton at club

By Andrew Wu
Updated August 22 2014 - 3:13am, first published 2:40am

Greater Western Sydney believe they will finalise a contract extension with Jonathon Patton "sooner rather than later", as the injured forward pledged on Thursday to be a Giant for the "next 10 years".

Giants chief David Matthews said the injury to Patton last week, which is likely to wipe out much of his 2015 season, had no bearing on the club's long-term interest in the No.1 pick from the 2011 draft.

"Our pitch and proposition to him isn't any different to what it was last week. He's happy, he's enjoying the club, but he'll overcome this setback," Matthews said.

"We're still going to show him exactly the support he requires. We think he'll get back and deserves every opportunity to get back. He's young, he's had no luck.

"We'll keep discussions going with his management and support him whatever way we can."

The Giants are keen to lock away Patton so the 21-year-old, who is due to have a knee reconstruction next week, can focus on his rehabilitation without the added stress of contract negotiations. Patton was reportedly the target of a $900,000 a year offer from Western Bulldogs

Despite the recent speculation surrounding Patton's future, Matthews said the Giants were confident the forward would stay even before his latest injury.

"They should be interested in him because he's a talented young man," Matthews said. "I've got no problem at all about that but at the same time I've always been very, very confident he enjoys the club and has a lot of good mates.

"They've got a real opportunity to go forward together and that's always been on his mind. It's just about us getting a deal done when we're ready."

Should the Giants lock away Patton, as expected, they would still have work to keep rival clubs away from their other gun forwards such as Jeremy Cameron and Tom Boyd, who are out of contract at the end of next year. Others set to enter the market include Dylan Shiel, Adam Treloar, Stephen Coniglio and Toby Greene.

But Matthews believes the prospect of future success would be a strong incentive for their young stars to remain at the club.

"We've made significant progress on the field this year. We've won five and should have won eight or 10 but for a bit of luck and injuries," Matthews said.

"I've got absolute confidence, as I'm sure the players do, in the future direction, and that's important for the players. They want to win and want to win more often, the discussions are progressing well."

In a heartfelt letter to Giants fans and the wider football public, Patton revealed he cried for 20 minutes after learning he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee for the second year running.

"There's no doubt this is a very challenging and confronting time in my life. I'm three years into my career and have had more injuries than most people have endured for their whole career," Patton wrote in a letter that appeared on the club's website.

"There is nothing I can do about any of this. I can't rewind the past or think about what could've been."

Patton thanked his best friend Coniglio, senior club officials and fans for their "overwhelming" support and vowed he would return from his latest setback.

"The worst thing about this whole process is not being able to train and play with all my best mates for a long time," Patton said.

"I now need to move on and deal with this situation. After all, this is only a nine to 10 month rehab. There are people out there fighting for their lives and going through a lot tougher things than I am.

"I will get my surgery done early next week and recover to the best of my ability to make sure I am there with my teammates for the next 10 years."

The Giants have named Phil Davis in their 22-man squad despite injury concerns during the week after he hurting his calf and suffering concussion in their win over the Demons. Callum Ward was left out.

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