The Saints’ prized top 10 draft picks continue attract interest from opposition clubs.
St Kilda Chief Operating Officer Ameet Bains told saints.com.au in a special edition podcast that interest in picks seven and eight has been extremely high.
“In terms of pick swaps, we have had conversations. Our real want is to move up the order, so be somewhere better than seven, and to do a deal on that basis have been the discussions we’ve been exploring,” he said.
“There hasn’t been anything attractive enough for us to want to do that and again, I re-enforce that if we were to do something it’s more likely to move up the order.”
“It would have to be something compelling that would make us shift.
Bains said the talent available in November’s draft was incredibly appealing.
“We’re really bullish about this year’s draft,” he said.
“The fact that we’ve had a number of clubs come to us wanting to get their hands on seven and eight… and move up themselves in the draft re-enforces our confidence in how strong of a draft it is.
“We know that we still want to add elite talent to the football club and those two picks allow us to do that, so unless it’s a player we feel really caps off our needs we won’t be trading those picks.”
“It’s not a question of just going out there and trying to get a big name for the sake of it or pay money for the sake of it. I think our fans would be really disappointed if we were that rash with our approach,” Bains said.
“We know what we need to target; we’ve been pretty clear about that.
“Mid-field depth has been a key part of that, particularly getting some more class through the mid-field, and that’s what we’ve been really focussed on even from a trade perspective, so we’ve been pretty calculated and considered about that.”
Bains’ conversations with Giant Adam Tomlinson have also piqued the interest of the football community recently, with suggestion the 24-year-old might be seeking to move back to his native Victoria.
“Adam is someone that we’ve spoken about having had a previous interest in him when he was uncontracted and that interest has remained,” Bains said.
“There have been suggestions in the past few weeks that he was maybe looking at a move back to Melbourne, which we’re still getting to the bottom of.
“The Giants have been incredibly strong in the last few days with their public commentary about not trading him and the reality is that if that’s the position, then nothing will happen.”
Trade period officially ends next week, with the National Draft to be held on November 24.
