The Dogs and Melbourne came under fire from fathers of disgruntled players on Monday, as Jack Watts' dad Andrew Watts said his son had been treated like a "reprobate" by the Demons.

Both players were publicly put up for trade before trade period, with John Stringer, Jake's father, saying on Monday his son was the victim of a "public stoning".

Essendon's offer of pick No.11 for Stringer and a second round pick was rejected by the Bulldogs last week while Watts is likely to move to Port Adelaide.

Stringer remains close enough with some of his Bulldogs' teammates to travel with them overseas, despite the player's manager Paul Connors saying earlier in October that his client was "not welcome at the club".

John Stringer said his son had been "pretty stressed" thanks to the saga, which had included his coach Luke Beveridge putting him up for trade and his former partner Abby Gilmore detailing his gambling addiction and infidelity.

"I've got to say It has been disappointing," John Stringer said at a sports management breakfast on Monday morning.

"He's probably been through a little bit of a public stoning, from our perspective.

"We thought he was obviously contracted [to the end of 2018] at the Dogs and was going to stay there, so for them to come out publicly and say it's time to move on is a little bit disappointing."

John Stringer went on to say that the saga had taken its toll on his family.

"I think for the whole family it's been fairly tough, and probably more so for Jake.

"The human face of the whole football industry sometimes gets forgotten a little bit, and I think particularly in Jake's case, it's very easy for people to cast aspersions and say this has happened, or that's happened.

"At the end of the day, you're dealing with a human being."

Meanwhile Andrew Watts said his son had been unfairly painted as lazy by Melbourne.

"What we don't understand is we feel Jack's been put out there as a bit of a reprobate, a misfit in not turning up fit, not putting in a good effort, being a bad influence on younger kids," Andrew Watts said.

"A lot of AFL people have seen him for eight or nine years in the media and he turns up with a smile on his face, he does work hard, so we just don't understand that language.

"It's the reality of the system a little bit ... If his mother was here, you'd hear a bit more."

Their manager, Connors, said neither player would be able to stay at Melbourne or the Bulldogs respectively.

"He doesn't go with any bad blood, but he has to go," Connors said of Watts, while of Stringer he said: "They don't want him, so why would they want to keep him?".

Connors said two second-round picks, Essendon's current offer, for Jake Stringer was fair. Essendon gave up pick No.11 as part of a deal for Devon Smith last week after the Bulldogs rejected pick No.11 for Stringer and a second round pick.

"Given we didn't initiate this - and they can say it was a mutual decision to explore options, I'd like to challenge that because Jake wanted to stay - now they've said they want him to go, it's time to go," Connors said.

"If they don't trade him, he'll go very cheaply the following year, you would think."

Port Adelaide list manager Jason Cripps said they were hopeful of securing Watts but that Geelong was "still in the game".