New Sydney recruit Joel Hamling has slammed former club Fremantle's contract offer "disrespectful", after he signed with the Swans as an unrestricted free agent.
Hamling, who is now at his fourth AFL club after stints with Geelong, the Western Bulldogs and then the Dockers, admitted he didn't want to leave the club, but was essentially forced to after the paltry contract offer.
"I never really wanted to leave Perth. I still had a contract there, but it wasn't as good as I would've liked. It was a bit disrespectful, to be honest," Hamling told AFL Media on Tuesday.
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The defender said he has no hard feelings for Fremantle, where he played 68 of his 91 AFL games, despite believing he'd been low-balled.
"I really enjoyed my time at Freo, they're a good club. But I don't think they thought anyone else would take me," Hamling said.
"So they gave me a contract, it's probably bottom end but then someone else (Sydney) popped up. And then Freo come back with (an offer of) two years, but it didn't eventuate.
The 30-year-old said the Dockers' initial contract offer had convinced him that it was time to continue his career elsewhere.
"I sort of had enough in the end and it was time to get out of there. So yeah, I packed up and took off to my fourth club," Hamling said.
Despite not ending up at Sydney when he was first drafted in 2011, Hamling explained that he and his manager had been in contact with Swans lists manager the year he was instead drafted to Geelong.
https://twitter.com/sydneyswans/status/1731894166211498374
"I met (Sydney Swans list manager) Kinnear Beatson 12 years ago in Perth. He interviewed me and we really liked it," Hamling said.
In a full circle moment, Hamling's manager ran into Beatson this year, with the chance meeting sparking a conversation on the defender's future.
Hamling has been in Perth since 2017, meaning the decision to move across the country again was not an easy one.
"My manager was at a Sandringham game last season and Kinnear was there and asked what was going on with me. My manager said (I) might be out of Freo so it just eventuated like that," he said.
"He came over to Perth and met me and spoke to my partner and it sounded really interesting."
Hamling, who was part of the drought-breaking 2016 Western Bulldogs premiership, will hope to help Sydney to a flag in 2024 and beyond.
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