Carlton coach Michael Voss has denied his new positioning and struggling form for Tom De Koning suggests the star has already committed to St Kilda.
The 25-year-old ruckman has played mainly forward in the last two matches, kicking a goal but battling to have an impact Thursday night's game as the Blues went down to Brisbane by 37 points at Marvel Stadium.
There has been a suggestion De Koning has been moved to attack by Voss because the Blues are planning for life without him next season, with the Saints contract offer believed to be up to $500,000-a-season more over seven years.
But Voss was adamant De Koning was just playing a role up forward because of Harry McKay's absence and also spoke of his hope the star will remain at the club long-term.
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“Tom’s a very important person to us, a very important person. He’s grown at this football club, we’d love to see him see out his career here, and we’re really hoping that that’s the case,” Voss said in his post-match press conference.
“At the moment, he’s a little bit challenged, but he’s a very important person to us, and we hope that he has a really long-term future here.”
When asked about whether De Koning's positioning suggested a move to St Kilda was on the cards, Voss said in denial: “No, it’s pretty black and white for us. I think you’re reading well and truly too much into it. I don’t tend to play in that sort of area.
“We need a role filled forward of the ball at the moment, we’re challenged with some talls right now, and ‘Pitto’s (Pittonet) in great form, so he deserves to be in the team.
“We need some tall timber forward of the ball that can draw the footy … there’s a need to have Tom there at the moment. So, that’s the role we’re asking him to play.
“I’ll just make it black and white. You don’t need to read into it too much more than that … we need him forward from a personnel point of view.”