Trade talk: West Coast forward tipped to join St Kilda influx

Forget about an exodus, there’s set to be an influx at St Kilda.

After locking away budding superstar Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera on Monday, the Saints will now set their sights on bringing in some new players this coming trade period.

It’s no secret that Tom De Koning could be on his way to Moorabbin from Carlton while GWS defender Leek Aleer has also been heavily linked with an off-season move to the Saints.

Another player that could be running around in red, white and black next year is West Coast small forward Liam Ryan.

Ryan, who is contracted for next year, has also been linked with Carlton, Essendon and Port Adelaide in recent times, but according to Tim Watson the 28-year-old Eagle might also be making the move to play under Ross Lyon in 2026.

Watson was speaking of the positivity surrounding the Wanganeen-Milera deal and the Saints in general when he casually dropped the news.

“You’ve got two years to keep producing positivity around him (Nasiah) and with him and building,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.

“If you want to take a really optimistic look at St Kilda, they’ve locked away ‘Nas’, ’TDK’ is going to St Kilda, he’s locked away, he’ll be a St Kilda player next year.

“They will add Leek Aleer. I’m not quite sure how good this young man is going to be. But we have seen young players like this develop remarkably over time.

“They’ll add Liam Ryan as well. He’ll move from the West Coast Eagles to St Kilda. I don’t know whether it’s been reported or not.

“I’m just saying to you this is what they’ll do in the off-season - they’ll add Liam Ryan, Leek Aleer, TDK, they’ve locked away Nas, they’ll hopefully have King back after another summer, they’ll have Mattaes Phillipou back (playing a full season).

“Then they’ve already blooded some young players. You’ve got ‘The Viking’ (Alix Tauru) with another pre-season under his belt.

“There’s a lot to be excited and optimistic about regarding St Kilda right now.”

West Coast’s general manager of football, Gavin Bell, commented on the reports that the Saints had tabled a four-year offer to Ryan.

“With another year to go on his contract with us, he’s a required player,” Bell said on SEN WA Mornings.

“We will have all our exit meetings in the next couple of weeks and we’ll know about those guys in those positions and what their intentions are.

“We haven’t had anything official yet to us so we’ll just continue to focus in on this week and make sure Liam is in the best place he can to play against the Swans.”

Is the club open to a possible Ryan exit so they can make room for draft picks?

Bell insisted that it wasn’t that simple and the club will make a call based on what Ryan decides.

“We want to just improve our list. There’s so many little factors to it, it’s not as cut and dry as you’ve stated there,” Bell added.

“For us it’s making sure we’ve got the talent we need to make ourselves better. Again it depends on so many factors - what does Liam want to do in particular? Then we start to work our way through that.”

Back on the Saints and Garry Lyon added: “Hopefully (Marcus) Windhager signs and Jack Steele remains.”

Watson concluded: “They’ll keep all those players.”

If all of the above does occur, St Kilda will undoubtedly be an excitement machine in the lead-up to the 2026 season.