St Kilda hopes to launch trade coup with struggling Hawthorn’s first-round draft pick

THE trade raised eyebrows at the time and Hawthorn’s forecast demise could be St Kilda’s gain as they prepare to launch an aggressive trade plan.

Hawthorn “sold the farm” to get Jaeger O'Meara. Picture: Michael Klein

ST KILDA’S quest to poach a superstar such as Lachie Whitfield will be boosted if Hawthorn’s golden era crashes this season.

In the most lopsided swap of draft picks in history, the Saints secured Hawthorn’s first selection in this year’s pool amid the Hawks’ desperation to land Jaeger O’Meara.

If the 0-2 Hawks finish 10th, the Saints will have received picks 9, 23 and 36 in exchange for 10 and 68.

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No.9 is tied to Hawthorn’s 2017 performance and belongs to this year’s draft while the other selections were activated last year.

Armed with two first-round picks, the Saints are set to aggressively target a big fish and GWS midfield jet Whitfield, contracted until 2018, is reportedly in their sights.

Finding another A-grade midfielder is a priority for St Kilda.

Lachie Whitfield is reportedly being targeted by St Kilda. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Hawthorn “sold the farm” to secure Jaeger O'Meara. Picture: Michael Klein

The Hawks have suffered their worst start to a season since 2009 and they are inflating St Kilda’s draft hand with every loss.

Even if Hawthorn turns around its season and wins the flag, St Kilda will still comfortably win the trade according to the league’s draft points system.

The Hawks entered last year’s draft at No.74 and their first pick this year will be No.36 should GWS win the flag.

AFL integrity officer Ken Wood was absent from AFL House when the one-sided Hawks-Saints trade was lodged and rival clubs were bewildered the league did not block it.

“Ken can query you when you’re out 25 draft points and moving from pick 65 to 67,” one list manager said at the time.

“And all of a sudden this goes through — 1000 points different. I couldn’t understand it.”

St Kilda list manager Ameet Bains helped engineer the deal. Picture: Michael Klein

Wood was involved in internal talks beforehand and the league justified the deal by saying both clubs signed off on it “with their eyes wide open”.

“It was a commercial decision for St Kilda to get involved (to help Hawthorn land O’Meara),” a league spokesman said at the time.

“Hawthorn didn’t have to go through with it, but they did.”

While St Kilda walked away from the swindle grinning, the relieved Hawks also trumpeted it as a win when they secured O’Meara.

Hawthorn believed acquiring pick 10 from the Saints would be a key plank in their tense negotiations with Gold Coast.

Under the AFL’s new points system, St Kilda will win the trade by between 848 and 2863 points — depending on where the Hawks finish.

That is the equivalent of receiving a pick between No.2 and 22 for free.

The Herald Sun reported in 2015 that a discrepancy of more than 200 points would trigger alarm bells with the AFL and could be rejected.

But neither the Saints or Hawks have any premium father-sons this season, diminishing the relevance of the points gulf.

Richmond will be cheering Geelong losses this season after landing the Cats’ first-round draft pick in the Brett Deledio trade, while Brisbane owns Port Adelaide’s first selection.

 Read more: All the key events for the AFL Trade Period and what they mean

DRAFT LAUGH

HAWTHORN secured picks 10 + 68 (1454 draft points)

ST KILDA secured picks 23 + 36 + 2017 pick 1-18 (between 2302 and 4317 points)

What it means ...

*If Hawks win the flag, Saints win trade by 848 points (equivalent of pick 22 for free)

*If Hawks finish eighth, Saints win trade by 1024 points (equivalent of pick 17 for free)

*If Hawks get wooden spoon, Saints win trade by 2863 points (equivalent of pick 1-2 for free)