Wantaway Saint to boycott best and fairest amid trade desire

St Kilda ruck Rowan Marshall has decided to boycott the club's best and fairest on Monday night.

Marshall is adamant he wants to play for Geelong and it's understood he felt it would be disingenuous to attend while he's hellbent on being traded to a rival.

The 30-year-old has one year remaining on his contract, and for the second season in a row is looking to leave.

Marshall feels undervalued and is not comfortable being at the club given decisions it has made across the last 12 months.

St Kilda asked for contracted Cats playmaker Lawson Humphries in return for Marshall, and then on the weekend proposed a deal which would send Pick 14 and 2025 first rounder Harley Barker to Moorabbin in return for Marshall.

On both occasions, Geelong and the players involved rejected the offers.

Geelong's view is Pick 14 alone is too much for a player who has never been All-Australian, is St Kilda's second choice ruck, and turns 31 next month.

Sam De Koning, who is contracted for next year, has also made it clear he does not wish to play beside his brother at Moorabbin.

But the Saints believe Marshall and Tom De Koning as a ruck duo makes them significantly better and despite dialogue between the two clubs for several weeks, are playing hard ball.

As reported on The Agenda Setters last month, Saints president Andrew Bassat met with Marshall after last year's trade period and guaranteed the club would trade him at the end of 2026 "for a fair deal" if the year didn't pan out as the ruck hoped.

And while Marshall flirted with the Western Bulldogs while the Tim English situation was in limbo and was aware of interest from GWS, he has always been committed to playing for Geelong in 2027 and beyond.

The Cats are also after a ruck following the retirement of Rhys Stanley.

Gryan Miers, despite doing a medical at West Coast before he flew to Italy, has expressed clearly to his management that he wants to remain at Geelong for the remaining two years of his deal.

If Miers' mind is turned by a long-term Eagles offer, it could see Pick 21 form part of the deal which gets him to Perth.

The Cats would then use that selection to try and convince St Kilda to deal Marshall, who was initially disenfranchised when De Koning arrived on a long-term deal worth roughly $1 million per year more than Marshall's contract.