Adelaide AFL midfielder Patrick Dangerfield says he expects teammate Kurt Tippett to follow him and sign a new contract with the Crows.
Explosive AFL midfielder Patrick Dangerfield expects fellow prized signature Kurt Tippett to remain with him at the Adelaide Crows.
Dangerfield, after signing a multi-million dollar three-year contract extension with the Crows, believes Tippett and emerging onballer Rory Sloane will soon follow and recommit to Adelaide.
"I'm sure those will happen in time," Dangerfield told reporters on Monday.
"Ultimately it's up to them to make those decisions but I think as a club we're confident they'll stay."
Queenslander Tippett and Victoria-born Sloane both fall out of contract at season's end.
Dangerfield rejected advances from several Victorian clubs but said the only reason to leave the Crows would have been to be closer to his parents, who live in Moggs Creek, near Geelong.
Geelong and Essendon were believed to have contacted the 22-year-old's management.
"I never myself spoke to other clubs," Dangerfield said.
"I more weighed up whether to go home to be closer to Mum and Dad.
"But the environment we have created here, there is no reason to leave.
"And I think that will be the case with other players to re-sign."
Dangerfield's form spike this season raised the stocks of the 73-gamer and helped lift Adelaide to third spot.
But the on-field surge also created heightened interest in his future - speculation Dangerfield wanted to quash.
"Obviously the last three weeks, it has intensified quite a bit," he said.
"The speculation that it creates, and I suppose the hype that it generates, eventually it's going to become a negative on the group.
"To get it out of the way, and for the club just to be able to focus on winning games of footy rather than fielding questions about players' contracts, I think that is a better thing for the club."
Dangerfield, selected with pick No.10 in the 2007 national draft, said Adelaide's promising future and friendships at the club were factors.
"The majority of players who I have come through the system with have stayed together and those are the really strong bonds that you build over time.
"And that is how you win premierships.
"If you keep your core team together and that core age group together, that is how you build winning teams."
