Melbourne AFL Paul Roos admits he would have liked to have made Ryan O'Keefe a Demon in 2014 - but it's unlikely he will do so in 2015.
Dual AFL premiership winner and Norm Smith medallist O'Keefe has been barely used this season by Sydney coach John Longmire and will be honoured ahead of the Swans' last home game against Richmond on Saturday.
The 33-year-old is out of contract at the end of this season.
Roos admitted Melbourne's interest had extended to a couple of discussions.
"If it had have been 12 months ago, he definitely would have been one we'd have looked at," he said.
"It's just probably 12 months too late for (us to recruit) Ryan.
"We haven't well and truly slammed the door on him but we've had a bit of a chat to him about it. We've said it's probably unlikely.
"But his expertise and coming from the great club that he has, his career's been really, really good.
"He may get a gig somewhere playing. If he doesn't, he's going to be a real asset to someone from a coaching point of view."
Roos gave his successor Longmire the benefit of the doubt as to why O'Keefe wasn't playing.
"Certainly, up until mid-last year, I would say he was playing some really good footy but I don't know what goes on behind the scenes," he said.
"Players can drop off quickly but I haven't seen him play.
"What I do know about Ryan is that if someone gave him an opportunity ... he'd bring an enormous amount to the group."
Roos faces a tough ask motivating his side against North Melbourne in the Demons' season-closer with nothing on the line.
The Kangaroos host the Demons on Saturday night, with both clubs unlikely to move from their 6th and 17th positions respectively whatever the outcome.
Roos admitted finding a motivating factor for players in this scenario was challenging.
"It's hard. I don't pretend to know how the players are going to come out (on Saturday) night," he said.
"We saw last weekend the teams that couldn't really make (the finals) looked pretty much exhausted and got rolled over by some of the better teams of the competition.
"I hope the last game gives them a bit of a boost ... you hope players take that into the game and finish off with a strong effort."
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