Trade Rumours 2025

[jazzadogs]

The supporters will riot if they lose him.
For what it's worth I think some in the media are talking crap to help Nas move to SA.

The source was Michelangelo Rucci so you're probably on the money. Nice to dream though, and if we get in his ear at the right level maybe we can lure him with success and the "you don't have to play on Sam Darcy" argument.

I can only see the firesale happening if they get TDK and Nas stays. If Nas leaves, they can't afford to let any of Wilkie, Steele or Windhager leave imo.

[DOG GOD]

The source was Michelangelo Rucci so you're probably on the money. Nice to dream though, and if we get in his ear at the right level maybe we can lure him with success and the "you don't have to play on Sam Darcy" argument.

I can only see the firesale happening if they get TDK and Nas stays. If Nas leaves, they can't afford to let any of Wilkie, Steele or Windhager leave imo.

agree. Maybe they need these types to leave to pay the contracts of TDK and NAS

[Bornadog]

Wilkie is a no from me unless we are thinking 3rd tall in the backline. I have not been impressed with him, for starters he is too short to play on the gorillas.

[comrade]

Wilkie is a no from me unless we are thinking 3rd tall in the backline. I have not been impressed with him, for starters he is too short to play on the gorillas.

He's a huge upgrade in the 3rd tall position.

[GVGjr]

Wilkie is a no from me unless we are thinking 3rd tall in the backline. I have not been impressed with him, for starters he is too short to play on the gorillas.

I don't believe any interest in him would be as a KPP but running a line through a potential player largely based on his height and/or age is more often than not flawed logic.
The positives are that he's durable, never misses a game and is versatile with the range of players he can be matched on. He hasn't lost his mobility or athleticism either plus he's also a leader at the Saints.

I actually don't think he is in anyway available but to rule him out for the reasons provided doesn't seem to be a fair assessment.
FWIW, He is more of a 3rd tall but can also defend bigger and smaller players when needed.

At times this year he's even been right in the AA discussions.

[Sedat]

He's a huge upgrade in the 3rd tall position.

Yep. He's actually the closest thing to Dale Morris since he retired. Wilkie can play on all types and put them to sleep.

[doggies ftw]

Wilkies one of the best defenders in the league and can absolutely play a number 1 defender role, despite his height on paper. I genuinely can’t think of a better match for our system.

I agree it’s probably a rubbish report but you could understand why someone like him would be upset with the results over his career and being underpaid

[Bornadog]

He's a huge upgrade in the 3rd tall position.

Third tall, great but let's not think he is our new FB

[Axe Man]

Wilkie going nowhere according to this.

Wreck It Ralph: Pull and push of list management where everyone knows what the stars are paid

St Kilda’s aggressive pursuit of new talent on multimillion-dollar offers is believed to have left a current star ‘bemused’. This is the list management tightrope cashed-up clubs are walking in 2025.

One senior coach said recently they don’t want to know the salary of their stars in case it coloured their perception of the player.

He wanted to judge his players equally, not be influenced in selection or his personal feedback while being fully aware an $800,000-a-year star was giving $400,000 output.

And yet in an increasingly online age, the issue for clubs is that more than ever players know exactly what their teammates – and club recruiting targets – are being offered.

It has been a challenge Collingwood seems to be successfully navigating as Darcy Cameron finally got his fat deal this week after months of painful negotiations.

The Pies should get there with Brody Mihocek too even as he asks for a bigger one-year deal or a two-season extension given his continued good form.

But St Kilda also faces a huge eight weeks as it hits the trade period because it has been so public in offering vast sums to the likes of Matt Rowell, Finn Callaghan, Harley Reid, Leek Aleer and of course, Tom De Koning.

St Kilda has to change the paradigm.

It has to start attracting stars through different pathways while also preserving its draft picks given they have had excellent returns in recent years (Mattaes Phillipou, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Darcy Wilson, Alix Tauru, Tobie Travaglia).

They also have to continue to retain salary cap room, with CEO Carl Dilena on Saturday paying tribute to the salary cap alignment in recent years after this club was recently bottom six in results and yet had a bulging salary cap despite its underperformance.

Phillipou will get a new four-year deal and Dilena sounded more confident about Wanganeen-Milera’s negotiations on Sunday.

The club still believes it is on track to secure him on a two-year term given it is still in negotiations on the figure to retain him rather than being put off on a contract delay.

But the senior leaders are very well aware of the extraordinary sums being offered.

Cal Wilkie is a spectacular player and very likely the next captain at St Kilda as soon as next year.

How would he feel about TDK coming in on double his salary?

Someone with knowledge of his opinions this week suggested “bemused” would be the right way to categorise his feelings.

Wilkie has two years left on his deal and is clearly going nowhere.

Even though a rival club recently told him to name his price if he would consider leaving.

He will have to swallow his pride – and hopefully secure an off-season extension – but GWS defender Leek Aleer coming in on very similar money (four years, $750,000 a season) might not ease the pain.

Not when in six completed seasons Wilkie’s best and fairest finishes read 7th, 6th, 4th, 2nd, 2nd and first and he has not missed a game since debuting.

Yet as St Kilda knows there is a very different price acquiring talent to retaining it, and Aleer would be a superb addition to the backline.

In an ideal world a midfielder like Matt Rowell or Finn Callaghan might have said yes to the vast fortunes offered instead of TDK, who fills an identical role to Marshall.

Instead they seem to have two bulls in the one paddock.

The St Kilda pitch is that TDK can play alongside Marshall like when Paddy Ryder and Marshall both finished top 10 in the best-and-fairest in 2020 while sharing the ruck-forward role at St Kilda.

Certainly a move to five on the interchange bench would help play two rucks next year.

But Geelong is coming hard for Marshall.

A club that wants for nothing except an elite ruckman would be positively scary with Marshall running around in that position next year.

Geelong’s view – and one shared by those close to Marshall – is that St Kilda only recently fully shared its vision for the TDK-Marshall tandem with him when it was clear the Blues ruckman was moving to Moorabbin.

Marshall has friends and family in Geelong, certainly did nothing to stop the trade speculation at a recent press conference, and would be within his rights to want to play first ruck instead of share that role.

St Kilda’s view is that coach Ross Lyon has told the players about the club’s plans and that making big splashy trades will actually put the senior players in the premiership window.

That doing nothing in a massively compromised draft landscape would consign those 28-years-and-older players to irrelevancy.

St Kilda wants to keep Marshall but has clearly war-roomed a scenario where TDK arrives and Marshall demands a trade.

And there is a world where they get free agent De Koning in and secure a Cats first-rounder for Marshall to get back into the draft.

It would be the Saints version of ‘pick purchasing’ – paying an extra $700,000-$800,000 a year for a ruckman but potentially securing a first-round pick.

And trading a soon-to-be 30-year-old for a player just turned 26.

The concern is that Geelong’s first pick might only finish in the mid to late 20s by draft night in an especially weak draft.

So St Kilda will navigate the Marshall situation while also haggling hard with Wanganeen-Milera’s housemate Marcus Windhager, who according to reports isn’t yet happy with his contract offer.

It is the push and pull of list management.

Geelong could easily afford Marshall’s contract but only because they have been so prudent with their own salary cap management, which Chris Scott labels as one of their underrated strengths.

St Kilda must shoot for the stars on players like TDK and Aleer but cannot hand fat contract extensions to established players on a whim.

As Dilena said on Saturday the club has done a heap of analytics work rating its players compared to the competition as part of its salary cap management so can scarcely compromise on that strategy.

Collingwood eventually begrudgingly conceded it had to pay up for Bobby Hill and Cameron on good faith even when they had one or two seasons left on their current contracts.

But as the Pies would be aware, players never hand back money when they underperform compared to contract value so deciding when to draw the line is the beauty of list management.

So is negotiating from a position of strength with your club in a premiership window.

Geelong effortlessly signed up a dozen players this year including future stars like Sam De Koning and Shannon Neale without a hint of trouble or gnashing of teeth.

Gold Coast is desperately hunting an elite small forward and continues to ask about the re-signed Bobby Hill, has a two-year offer in front of Jamie Elliott and has put a big fat contract to Beau McCreery.

They figure that the Pies have tried to poach Matt Rowell all year and keep being linked to Ben King, so they aren’t afraid to go on recruiting raids on Collingwood.

Yet Collingwood players don’t want to leave – Hill and McCreery certainly don’t – so the Pies will surely keep their men.

Gold Coast is now getting to that similar position, with King again making clear on 3AW Radio over the weekend the Suns aren’t a horse to be jumping off any time soon

He said he wanted to stay at the club past next year when he becomes a free agent.

“Yeah, no doubt. I’ve loved living up here and being a part of this football club. I am loving it and it’s as exciting as it’s ever been to be up on the Coast and be a part of this club so definitely,” he said.

So St Kilda will get on with negotiating with Windhager and considering if captain Jack Steele is tradeable while also hunting more experienced mids as a fall-back plan in case Wanganeen-Milera does depart.

Wanganeen-Milera continues to give very little away to the three clubs asking about him as well as teammates.

Certainly no one is quibbling about offering him vast fortunes with St Kilda adamant it had never lowballed him this year.

As Dilena said on Saturday, the club very quickly offered him a deal this year to make him the highest paid player at St Kilda.

It has developed him well, it put him into the midfield early this year when he wanted to play centre square.

It backed off when his groins got tight then threw him in again to change the course of games.

It has him in a sharehouse with good mates Mitch Owens and Windhager and if he didn’t love their fancy pitch with club big-wigs including president Andrew Bassat they can’t be accused of not showing him the future at St Kilda.

If he stays they will launch street parties for him, they will write songs about the great Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera.

If he leaves it will be a hammer blow, but they could scarcely have done more for him.

There is no right answer in list management with salary cap management a complex juggle that is proven right or wrong only by results.

Carlton was pilloried for losing Matt Kennedy last year and hailed for its capacity to pull a rabbit out of the hat by masterfully trading up to pick 3.

The Kennedy pick secured them 15-year defender Harry O’Farrell and pick 3 became Jagga Smith, but by season’s end both had suffered ACL tears.

In the end the headlines and instant analysis doesn’t matter – the only measure of success is wins.

St Kilda won on the weekend because its senior stars stood up – no more than Wilkie on the last line as the club’s player of the week.

It will do well to keep them happy but not so happy that the club wastes dollars for when it tries to attract free agency stars to help open up its flag window.

List bosses Stephen Silvagni and Graeme Allen are trying to bridge the gap between old-school methods and the new-age thinking of players, prepared to put some noses out of joint if it gets St Kilda back up the ladder.

The old mantra of take-it-or-leave it contracts when players were blessed to be playing AFL football is well and truly gone.

[Bornadog]

Godfather offer: St Kilda’s eye-watering deal for Harley Reid

St Kilda has reportedly made a ‘Godfather offer’ to West Coast’s Harley Reid.

SEN’s Tim Watson is hearing that the Saints are preparing to part with an eye-watering $25 million over 12 years for the 20-year-old Eagle.

Watson was discussing the reported fallout at the Saints who are trying to re-sign emerging superstar Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera while bringing in Tom De Koning from Carlton and Leek Aleer from GWS on big money.

The former Saints coach says he has heard from people close to the situation that St Kilda is intent on luring Reid to Moorabbin on an enormous contract that has the footy world spinning.

story continues in link above

Saints are getting desperate

[Stevo]

Yep. He's actually the closest thing to Dale Morris since he retired. Wilkie can play on all types and put them to sleep.

It's hard to believe that anyone wouldn't rate Wilkie. Rocks up every week and more than does the job asked of him.

[Grantysghost]

Godfather offer: St Kilda’s eye-watering deal for Harley Reid

St Kilda has reportedly made a ‘Godfather offer’ to West Coast’s Harley Reid.

SEN’s Tim Watson is hearing that the Saints are preparing to part with an eye-watering $25 million over 12 years for the 20-year-old Eagle.

Watson was discussing the reported fallout at the Saints who are trying to re-sign emerging superstar Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera while bringing in Tom De Koning from Carlton and Leek Aleer from GWS on big money.

The former Saints coach says he has heard from people close to the situation that St Kilda is intent on luring Reid to Moorabbin on an enormous contract that has the footy world spinning.

story continues in link above

Saints are getting desperate

Wait - that's over two million a year. WTAF. That would be a club killer if it went wrong. I will believe it when I see it. I mean this guy is an amazing talent, he's just one guy though.

[doggies ftw]

I don’t have a lot of time for players at a shit, nowhere team like St Kilda getting upset over the club offering others bigger contracts. Basically majority of the players at the saints are being severely overpaid for their efforts (Wilkie is one I can understand though, heart and soul type of guy). Can understand at the pies those guys being up set when they’ve just won their club a flag, and are consistently competing but still underpaid. Fair enough. But at the saints? Cmon man. Says a lot about why they’re in that position if that’s how people at the club feel
about them trying to do something to improve

[Bornadog]

Wait - that's over two million a year. WTAF. That would be a club killer if it went wrong. I will believe it when I see it. I mean this guy is an amazing talent, he's just one guy though.

I think West Coast have already offered him $24million

[josie]

Wait - that's over two million a year. WTAF. That would be a club killer if it went wrong. I will believe it when I see it. I mean this guy is an amazing talent, he's just one guy though.

Surely that kind of pay disparity would create disharmony amongst team. Crazy stuff.