Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph has explained how St Kilda has positioned itself to be so financially aggressive in this year\u2019s AFL trade market amid its accelerated bid for free agent Jack Silvagni.<\/p>\n
The Saints appear central to an array of key deals in this year\u2019s exchange period.<\/p>\n
Restricted free agent Tom De Koning<\/a> has nominated St Kilda as his preferred club<\/a>, with the Saints tabling a long-term contract reportedly worth $1.7 million to $1.8 million per season \u2013 an offer Carlton has already declared it won\u2019t match.<\/p>\n Watch every match of the 2025 Toyota AFL Finals Series before the Grand Final, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n De Koning\u2019s Carlton teammate Silvagni is also in St Kilda\u2019s sights<\/a>, with the utility completing a medical at the club this week \u2013 per Channel 9 host Eddie McGuire \u2013 as he weighs up interest from the Saints, Magpies and Bulldogs. The Saints have reportedly tabled a five-year offer worth in excess of $4 million in total for Silvagni.<\/p>\n St Kilda has been strongly linked to Giants defender <\/a>Leek Aleer<\/a>, as well as contracted premiership West Coast forward Liam Ryan, who officially expressed his desire to be traded during his Eagles exit meeting<\/a>. The Saints are also seen as a potential landing spot for Suns midfielder <\/a>Sam Flanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n The rival-player links come weeks after St Kilda re-signed superstar <\/a>Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera<\/a> on a two-year deal worth around $2 million per season, as well as reports around an increased offer for uncontracted midfielder Marcus Windhager, who has interest from the likes of North Melbourne, Melbourne, Essendon and the Giants<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking on Fox Footy\u2019s Midweek Tackle on Tuesday night, Ralph said the Saints\u2019 ability to bank TPP space while also prepaying star players had allowed them to pocket savings and make a cash splash this season.<\/p>\n Nas on reason for staying with Saints | 02:36<\/p>\n \u201cWe know a few of the ways. You can front-end big contracts \u2013 you give Max King a lot of his contact (early) \u2013 so that when you do get into the premiership window, you\u2019ve saved a bit. You bank some cap space, (minimum spend) 95 per cent and then you pay five per cent the next year.<\/p>\n \u201cOne way that hasn\u2019t been talked about is that they\u2019ve actually refused a couple of the player managers the CBA uptick. We know the AFL pay deal goes up 37 per cent over five years. So they (the Saints) will say: \u2018Here\u2019s your guaranteed money, if the salary cap goes up 10 per cent next year, no we\u2019ve given you your money, you don\u2019t get any of that rise.\u2019<\/p>\n It\u2019s not pennies, it\u2019s certainly a significant amount, it\u2019s not all of that 37 per cent, but it\u2019s just another way they\u2019ve been able to do it.<\/p>\n \u201cNow is the time to spend it \u2013 and they are bloody spending every dollar they have.\u201d<\/p>\n Silvagni\u2019s next destination is still yet to be determined. Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs have led the chase for some time, but St Kilda has suddenly emerged as a suitor.<\/p>\n Jack Silvagni\u2019s dad, Stephen, is list boss at the Saints. But reports state St Kilda head of talent and acquisition Graeme Allan and coach Ross Lyon have driven the move for the 27-year old.<\/p>\n Silvagni ‘felt unloved’ by Carlton | 02:45<\/p>\n Asked on Midweek Tackle if the prospect of Jack Silvagni being added to the same list his dad looks after raised the prospect of a \u201cconflict of interest\u201d, Herald Sun reporter Scott Gullan said: \u201cOf course there is. We\u2019ve been down this track before. That\u2019s half the reason Stephen left Carlton. It became too much of an issue building with his two sons on the list.<\/p>\n \u201cJack\u2019s a good player, we know that. But how about Callum Wilkie, who\u2019s already raised concerns \u2013 and then denied them, but we know he did about Tom De Koning coming in \u2026 Callum\u2019s on about $800,000 to $900,000, Jack Silvagni comes in on the same money \u2013 maybe even more \u2013 and he\u2019s got every right to go: \u2018Your dad brought you in on that money.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cSt Kilda will say \u2018Stephen\u2019s sitting out of the meetings, he\u2019s got nothing to do with it\u2019 \u2013 come on \u2026 I\u2019m saying you have to tread very carefully and there\u2019s precedence where this hasn\u2019t worked. You can step out of meetings \u2013 which no one believes, I mean \u2018SOS\u2019 actually controls the money, he\u2019s got it all on a whiteboard and suddenly his son is front and centre. And he\u2019s going to come over the top of (players) who have been there on more money.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not Jack\u2019s fault, I get it, but I would avoid this situation if I was St Kilda.\u201d<\/p>\n But Ralph said the Saints had every right to chase Silvagni aggressively.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m St Kilda, I don\u2019t care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m saying: \u2018You know what? We want to get better, there might be some players who might whinge, let\u2019s give Cal Wilkie another $150,000 because he\u2019s one of the very few players who deserves that money. The rest of you on that list, you take the money we\u2019ve given you, you play great football and if you finish top three in a best and fairest, then we\u2019ll think about a pay rise.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph has explained how St Kilda has positioned itself to be so financially aggressive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[81338,638,64,63,689,55,639,3423,48482,50265,81336,81340,10143,16289,81333,71919,81339,71923,2105,81341,6179,681,3502,647,7198,6855,677,71927,76664,81335,81334,18000,81337,7889,49776,29653,85,1122,26889,6182,1117,63380,11236,1133,81332,660,698],"class_list":["post-114247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-accelerated-bid","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-callum-wilkie","tag-cap-space","tag-cap-strategy","tag-cap-tactics","tag-craig-mcrae","tag-eddie-mcguire","tag-exchange-period","tag-exit-meeting","tag-five-year-offer-worth","tag-generation-lineage","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-helping-club","tag-jack-silvagni","tag-jon-ralph","tag-max-king","tag-melbourne","tag-michael-willson","tag-north-melbourne","tag-oceania","tag-panel-breakdown","tag-pay-deal","tag-pies-dogs","tag-player-managers","tag-premiership-window","tag-reports-state","tag-salary-cap","tag-sam-flanders","tag-scott-gullan","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-st-kilda-saints","tag-stephen","tag-tom-de-koning","tag-trade-market","tag-trade-news","tag-trade-period","tag-two-year-deal-worth","tag-victoria","tag-western-bulldogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}