St Kilda’s Chief Operating Officer Simon Lethlean has addressed his club’s trade period pursuit of a number of players.
The Saints have been loosely linked with Collingwood’s Adam Treloar, but after they secured the services of Brad Crouch from Adelaide, are highly unlikely to go after the Magpies midfielder.
“We’re very interested observers,” Lethlean said on SEN Breakfast.
“Treloar is a sensational player, but if you ask me right now if he would be at the Saints, I’d say it’s very unlikely.
“We don’t have the cap space or the assets to be getting that deal done in my view. We certainly haven’t spoken to Adam or Collingwood.
“We did say if the Crouch deal fell over we would potentially have a look at Adam as that midfielder we’re looking for, but given the Crouch deal has gone ahead I think our focus and ability on that one is pretty minimal.
“But geez, he’s a very good player and there’s obviously a bit to work through at Collingwood.”
There has also been talk surrounding the Saints and Richmond small forward Jack Higgins, but again Lethlean was cool on that potential move.
“We’ve only had discussions at the early stages that we are keen on Jack as a player,” he added.
“But he’s contracted and hasn’t given any significant indication, to us or to the Tigers, that he wants to come to the Saints.
“There’s a lot of speculation about that one, but given he’s under contract that’s really with the Tigers to consider. That’s very early days that one.
“We’ve had discussions with his management but it’s not at the stage where he’s told the Tigers he wants to leave.
“He’s under contract and I think he’s a pretty well regarded player at the club. So the speculation is further down the road than the conversations.”
One player the Saints are more confident of landing is delisted Essendon forward/ruckman Shaun McKernan who is also attracting interest from Melbourne.
“Yeah, we are a fair way into that one,” Lethlean added.
“We need a third ruck on our list. We’ve got (Paddy) Ryder and (Rowan) Marshall which has been a good combination but you can be a minute away from losing one of those.
“We see Shaun as a good back-up in that space, he can also play forward, which is how we like our rucks to play at the minute.
“That conversation is pretty deep. I had heard that Melbourne were also keen given potentially (Braydon) Preuss is leaving, but that’s getting pretty close.”
On Wednesday, the Saints did finalise a deal for Crouch who has joined the club on a four-year deal as a restricted free agent.
The Crows will received a second-round pick, currently 23, as compensation.