RUCK star Nic Naitanui is set to be West Coast's first million-dollar-a-season player if the Eagles are to douse an audacious recruiting raid from Greater Western Sydney.

Naitanui, 23, will be out of contract next October and is tipped to be hot priority target if on the open market and especially if he's the target of a cashed-up Giants bid to attract the highly marketable Fijian-born powerhouse to Sydney.

Industry estimates put Naitanui's blue chip playing and marketing worth well into the region of $1.5 million a year if he was playing with the Giants.

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Naitanui would become by far the highest-ever paid Eagle with the retirement this year of gun onballer Daniel Kerr with a year to run on his highly lucrative agreement.

If West Coast powerbrokers are unable to secure Naitanui on a new long-term deal, his contract negotiations and uncertainty at the Eagles would become one of the biggest AFL stories next year.

Lingering doubts over the future of one of the game's biggest drawcards would rage through the season.

The loss of the matchwinning ruckman would be compensated.

West Coast officials will command a significant trade deal of critical early draft picks or even some of the talented young stars the Giants have picked up through compromised national drafts over the past three seasons.

It is understood West Coast officials are anxious to at least launch preliminary talks with Naitanui and his manager Paul Connors to lock the sought-after star into well beyond the end of the 2014 season.

Naitanui and Connors are believed to want to wait until into next season and Naitanui is back playing regular football after ending this year early with groin problems.

The Giants are tipped to have significant scope in salary packages to tempt Naitanui after a failed bid to win the playing services of Franklin at the end of last season, and the earlier than expected departure of Israel Folau at the end of 2012.

Folau headed back to rugby this season after serving just two seasons of a four-year deal in a league experiment worth an estimated $4 million.

Naitanui is certain to become a prime Giants recruiting target, even though the powerful on-baller will not be a free agent.

He is also believed to be keen to start next season injury-free and be back playing regular games ahead of starting new contract talks.

Naitanui is already an official AFL ambassador to promote game growth in the Fijian islands and increased financial incentives could be on offer to Naitanui from the league if he considers leaving West Coast.

He was born in Sydney's west and raised in Perth, where he launched his blossoming AFL career with Swan Districts in the WAFL competition.

It is understood that only a move to the AFL's newest frontier in western Sydney would be considered by Naitanui and not another club if he was enticed to leave West Coast.