Garry Lyon believes St Kilda should prioritise the recruitment of promising GWS youngster Josh Kelly over star midfielders Nathan Fyfe and Dustin Martin.
The 22-year-old Giant was rumoured to have been offered a $9 million contract over the next nine years by North Melbourne last month - the club that his father Phil Kelly played for during the 1980s.
With the talented midfielder yet to commit to a reported two-year contract extension at his current club, it is possible that Kelly may still opt for a trade back to Victoria.
With St Kilda in the enviable bargaining position of holding two first-round picks in this year's Nation Draft, one of those likely to be inside the top five if Hawthorn’s disastrous start to the year continues, Lyon believes Kelly should be the first option the Saints should push for at the end of the season.
He believes Kelly to be a better fit for the Saints than the two current highest profile restricted free agents at the end of the season: Fremantle’s Nathan Fyfe - who was linked to the Saints as part of a $1.5 million a season deal earlier this week – and Richmond’s Dustin Martin.
“(St Kilda) are absolutely in the market for a quality player,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast’s The Wednesday Cruch.
“Fyfe’s the name at the moment… but probably someone like a Kelly would complement them more because they have got inside (midfielders) and they have got grunt (already).”
Watson however believes St Kilda most require a player that can turn games on their own, something that only Fyfe and Martin have proved to show so far.
“Kelly hasn’t shown yet that he’s a game changer whereas the other two have shown that they are game changers,” he said.
Anthony Hudson believes Kelly would be on an equal footing to the Fremantle and Richmond stars, both as a tactical fit for the Saints and the advantage of being three years younger.
“I’d have Kelly just as high as the other two I reckon, to fit in for St Kilda, and because he’s younger,” he said.
Lyon concurred with Hudson’s opinion, believing any of the three would be a great choice for St Kilda.
“You’d be pretty happy to lose out and take one or the other, it’s a hard question,” he said.