Stephen Coniglio remains the hottest target of this year’s free agency, with Carlton and Hawthorn hoping to lure him away from GWS.

SEN Breakfast newsman Sam Edmund has spoken to player managers around the competition, and they feel he will stay with the Giants.

“For what it is worth, more and more player managers, and I spoke to a lot of them yesterday, believe he will stay at GWS. That noise is very much getting louder,” he told SEN Breakfast.

However, Edmund believes the Blues will go hard after Richmond defender Brandon Ellis and Gold Coast midfielder Jack Martin if they miss on Coniglio.

“That would be disappointing for his potential suitors like Hawthorn and Carlton, but there will be some compensation there,” he said.

“The Blues are now really strongly linked to Brandon Ellis at Richmond and Jack Martin at Gold Coast.”

Ellis and Martin are both out of contract at the end of 2019.