The 23-year-old, who is currently holidaying overseas, was traded to Geelong alongside pick 60 for pick 21 on Wednesday afternoon.
“By virtue of him being contracted, Rhys was able to decide whether he wanted to go to Geelong,” Bains told SAINTS.com.au.
“There was certainly no pressure at our end and if he had chosen to stay with us and see out his contract, we certainly would have been happy with that as well.
“They are never easy conversations to have but Alan Richardson spoke at length to Rhys earlier today.”
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Bains admitted in Tuesday’s LIVE chat that St Kilda had fielded a number offers for Stanley, who played 58 games in the red, white and black, but believed the Cats’ proposal fitted in best with the club’s list management strategy.“Geelong has had some interest in Rhys for a short period, as have a number of clubs,” he said.
“We’ve been resisting some of those approaches, but a bit like deals in previous years, Geelong’s interest grew stronger.
“In the last 24 hours we’ve been in a position where we could start talking with the Cats in a meaningful way about a trade.”
Last year St Kilda entered the National Draft with picks 3, 18 and 19, selections that secured Jack Billings, Luke Dunstan and Blake Acres.
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As it stands, the Saints are have orchestrated a similar position this year, with picks 1, 21 and 22 currently in their possession with 24 hours of negotiations remaining in the 2014 trade period.“We’ve been quite open and transparent about our list management strategy. It’s a very deliberate and purposeful approach to building through the draft,” Bains said.
“We feel our draft position with three picks inside 22 positions us very well again, as it did last year for picking up some of the high end talent.”
