St Kilda’s General Manager of Football Simon Lethlean is confident the Saints can lure star midfielder Dylan Shiel to the club during the trade period.
The 25-year-old is contracted with GWS until the end of next season but is exploring his options, with the Saints reportedly offering him a sizeable contract.
“We think he’s an elite, seriously good midfielder that can make our club better,” Lethlean said on NAB Trade Radio.
“It’s been reported that we met with Dylan – we did.
“He’s a really impressive professional who we think will make a significant impact.”
With Hawthorn, Essendon and Carlton also reportedly vying for his services, Lethlean believes his club’s proposal to Shiel was convincing.
“We think we did a good job presenting the club in its best light and asking him how he can make the club better,” Lethlean said.
“I think he’s having a good think about that but he’s obviously got other clubs doing equally as good presentations as us.”
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Lethlean says the Saints can meet all of Shiel’s demands and have a lot to offer the Giant.
“He wants to contend, he wants to be paid well and he wants to be a club person wherever he turns up next, for the rest of his life,” Lethlean said.
“So if he wants to live in Bayside where he grew up, then so be it, that’d be great for us.”
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Although the Saints finished 16th on the ladder this season with just four wins, Lethlean is certain his side is on the right track.
“We say we’re going to contend in the years which he will be a contracted player if he comes to St Kilda,” Lethlean said.
“We’ve got as good a TPP (total player payments) as any club in the competition so we can pay him a good rate to get him down, and we think our environment is one where he will thrive and be one of the pros who shows our players how to go about it.”
Lethlean believes Shiel and his management will respond to the Saints’ offer in the coming days.
“I think they’re having a think about it now after seeing the clubs they want to see,” he said.
“I imagine we’ll get a response at some stage in the next few days … because there will need to be a deal done for someone with Dylan if he decides to leave.”