BRISBANE has made Adelaide key forward Josh Jenkins a lucrative five-year offer, believed to be worth close to $750,000 per season.

While Jenkins has indicated his wish to remain with the Crows, the Brisbane offer is significantly greater than what Adelaide has been prepared to pay at this stage.

The Crows are willing to give Jenkins, one of the most improved forwards in the game, a four-year deal but are unlikely to come close to matching Brisbane’s dollars on an annual basis.

Jenkins remains unsigned and while he is 27 years old, he is not a free agent because he does not have eight years service, having started his career at Essendon. The raw tall spent two years on the Bombers rookie list without playing a game before he was traded to the Crows at the end of 2011.

Round 18

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Brisbane’s offer was made in the knowledge that the Lions needed to dangle a deal well in advance of what Jenkins would get from the Crows in order to have any chance of persuading him to head north.

Jenkins has attracted interest from other clubs in addition to the Lions, who lured Dayne Beams, a Queenslander, on a similar five-year offer worth an average of $800,000 per season. The Beams deal was heavily front loaded and gives Brisbane greater scope to attract players if they can convince them to join a struggling club in a developing market.

Jenkins’ future beyond this season is unlikely to be clarified for some weeks.

“I am very happy with where things are at — and the club is happy with where things are at,” Jenkins said earlier this month when asked about his contract negotiations.

“It is going to take some time — but everything will be sorted out in due course.”

The Lions are keen to find some experienced key position players to support their young talls, including No. 2 draft pick Josh Schache and defender Harris Andrews in the knowledge that Daniel Merrett could retire soon.

The Swan Hill product has kicked 26 goals this year, including a bag of eight against the Western Bulldogs in Round 7 to be the Crows leading goal kicker.

He has become a more important target this season while skipper Taylor Walker has been recovering form and fitness after an early season foot injury though Walker’s presence has assisted Jenkins by often taking the opposition’s best defender.