Nathan Buckley's confidence that it's not all about the money for Jordan De Goey appears well-placed.
The 22-year-old is understood to have turned his back on a reported $5 million, five-year contract offer from North Melbourne and is intent on signing a new deal with the Pies.
Buckley spoke to reporters at Melbourne airport on Friday ahead of their round-15 clash with Gold Coast, but the game took a back seat to the hot topic of De Goey's AFL future.
The Magpies are unlikely to have the salary cap space to match or even come close to the Godfather offer from the Kangaroos.
But despite a rocky patch that saw De Goey exiled earlier this year following a drink-driving charge, Buckley backed the relationship between the young star and his club to be the determining factor as he mulled his next career move.
"There's more than dollars when it comes down to it with this," Buckley said.
"(It's) clearly a consideration for every professional footballer, but there are other things that are in the mix.
"Jordan has been well-supported, he's got some great friendships in the playing group. I'm really confident in that, it's just a matter of how that fits for Jordy and what he wants to do.
"But I think he sees the value in other things as well."
De Goey started the season behind the eight-ball when he was banned indefinitely, banished to train with the VFL side and told to get a job outside football following his DUI charge.
His return to the AFL fold was further complicated by a hamstring injury.
But he has played every game since round four, highlighting his value with a superb six-goal effort in a win against St Kilda.
"We probably put Jordy in a position where we weren't necessarily committed to him in the early stages of this year," Buckley said.
"... he needed to jump through a few hoops for us to be prepared to be committed to him.
"But he's definitely accepted that challenge and handled it really well.
"So we'd be keen for Jordan to continue with us and to see what we can do for his development and what he can do for us."
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