Out-of-contract Cats star wants to stay - but there's one holdup

The ball is in Geelong’s court as it relates to Max Holmes’ future in the AFL.

SEN regular and 9News’ Tom Morris reports Holmes has indicated he wants to stay at Kardinia Park and is ready to put pen to paper on a four-year contract.

The only holdup is on Geelong’s end.

Holmes, 21, is out of contract at the end of the season and a move to half-back to start 2024 has seen him in career-best form.

But Morris says the Cats aren’t ready to commit just yet.

“The latest around Max Holmes… this has been going on for weeks, the ball is in Geelong’s court,” Morris told SEN Breakfast.

“Max Holmes has decided he wants to stay at the Cats and it’s a four-year deal that would take him to free agency that his management has put back to the club.

“The club has said, ‘let’s just sit on it, let’s just see how you’re playing’, which is a risky maneuver.

“But this is Geelong, isn’t it? They did it last year with Tom Hawkins. They weren’t willing to pay overs on what they thought he was worth and in the end, they came to an agreement.

“Max Holmes has decided he wants to stay at the Cats for whatever price it is on a four-year deal.”

A first round pick in 2020, Holmes has 57 games to his name midway through his fourth year of AFL footy and has cemented himself in Geelong’s best 22 in the past 24 months.

In 2022, it was as a wingman that Holmes broke out. But the speedster missed Geelong’s premiership win in heartbreaking circumstances after tweaking his hamstring in the Preliminary Final.

It saw him struggle for consistency in 2023, but Holmes has found a new niche through the first six games this season. He’s one of only two players in 2024 to be averaging over 565 metres gained and four or more score involvements per game.

Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes believes if Holmes’ management want $800,000 or less a season, the Cats should be taking the deal.

“If it’s $750,000-$800,000, surely you go, ‘yep done’. The Cats don’t have many players under 23, he’s got the assets, got the attributes, he’s playing pretty good footy. That’s a bargain to me,” Cornes remarked.

Morris added: “If he’s unsigned at the end of the year and he continues to play the way he’s playing, clubs will be willing to pay him a lot more than that, dare I say a seven-figure sum.”

The Cats are renowened for a salary cap system that refuses to overpay players in order to prioritise team success.

Holmes is averaging 23.2 disposals, 5.8 marks and 4.0 inside 50s in 2024, all career highs.