St Kilda expects Jordan De Goey to make a call on his footy future in the coming days, with list boss James Gallagher declaring the star free agent would be an “outstanding fit” at the Saints if he chose them.
De Goey remains unsigned beyond this year and eligible for free agency, with the window to officially sign free agents opening on Friday morning.
He reportedly rejected a long-term offer from current club Collingwood earlier this week due to the lack of specificities around behavioural clauses laid out in the contract.
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Speaking on AFL Trade Radio on Thursday, Gallagher stressed the Saints were still targeting De Goey, suggesting they and the AFL world would “know a bit more in the next couple of days”.
“We‘ve had a number of conversations with Jordan and his management over a few months now. He’s got a big decision to make and the time’s coming pretty quickly for that decision,” Gallagher told AFL Trade Radio.
“I anticipate in the next two or three days he‘ll make that call. That will shape a little bit about what we do over the next couple of weeks, but we think he’d be an outstanding fit for our footy club and our footy team. He’s an exceptional player, he’s a big-game player and he’s got plenty of footy in front of him.
“But he is a Collingwood player. He‘s been there for a long time, he’s got some pretty strong relationships there, so it’s a big decision for him.”
Gallagher said Saints had been targeting De Goey for “a long time”
“Our priorities are to improve that real top-end of our list – whether that be through trade or free agency or through the draft – and we think that Jordan can do that for us. He’d complement our group really well,” he said.
“I think we‘ve done a pretty reasonable job to this point in positioning our club as a pretty attractive destination for a guy who’s 26 years old, a very good footballer with a lot of footy ahead of him. Our group is ready and really keen to have another player of that sort of ability join them.”
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While the Saints are keen to improve their list this off-season, Gallagher said, overall, he “anticipated it’d be quieter this year for various reasons”.
The club will lose Ben Long, who’s requested a trade to the Gold Coast Suns. Gallagher said the Saints had begun early talks with the Suns on a suitable new deal, but wouldn’t confirm whether Gold Coast’s mooted salary dump deal – which includes contracted Gold Coast defender Jack Bowes and Pick 7 – had been mentioned in negotiations.
Contracted Saints pair Bradley Hill and Hunter Clark have also been linked to move to North Melbourne. But Gallagher said he expected both players to remain at Moorabbin.
“I actually spoke to him (Clark) earlier this morning. Hunter is under contract with us, he‘s incredibly talented, he’s a good lad, we love having him around the club,” Gallagher said.
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“We‘d be really reluctant to trade him because, mainly through injury, we haven’t seen the best of him yet. He’s an emerging player and his best years are ahead of him. So I expect that he’d be with us next year and hopefully for a long, long time beyond that.”
Asked if he still expected Hill to be a St Kilda player next year, Gallagher said: “I do. I’ve spoken to Hilly quite a bit. He‘s played some really good for us at times. He’s maybe been a little bit inconsistent, certainly in the back-half of this year, but he had mates that were probably in that boat.
“We need to find a way to get the absolute best out of Brad 22 weeks a year and we think that with some tweaks to some personnel, the way we play and improvements in the program and just a growing maturity of our group, we‘re really confident that we’ll be able to do that.
“A lot of his weapons aren‘t replaceable in AFL footy – his running is absolutely exceptional, he’s got an ability to play in a few different parts of the ground, he’s quite unselfish with his running and coverage for teammates at times which doesn’t get the credit that he deserves.”
Gallagher said the Saints’ No. 1 priority this off-season was to maximise their early draft picks.
“We’re pretty open-minded. If we can come in a bit earlier (than Pick 9 in the draft), that’d be great. But at the same time on the night, it may be pushing out a couple of spots to pick up something extra if that’s the way we feel the draft is going.”
