Ballantyne has been a key member of the best 22 for a number of years and a terrific player for the Dockers, a deserved All-Australian, but, unfortunately, his best may be behind him.
I may not be entirely correct, but, to me, his main roles are scoring goals, providing goal assists and applying defensive pressure. Currently, he's not scoring too many goals, he's not getting much of the ball and is prone to injury - possibly, as Ross Lyon suggested - due to poor tackling technique. Probably, some or all, of these deficiencies were easily compensated for when the team was winning a lot of games, but now....
Of course he wants some certainty about what remains of his playing future and it's his right to ask the question of the club, or look elsewhere, if he doesn't like the answer provided.
A fair assessment, after a season of so many disappointments, is that he, along with other players named in a similar context, will be missed as characters and club identities, but not necessarily for their current contributions on game day.