St Kilda is angry Collingwood president Eddie McGuire tried to snare Nick Riewoldt

ST KILDA is up in arms over attempts by Collingwood president Eddie McGuire to snare Nick Riewoldt.

Eddie McGuire

ST KILDA is up in arms over attempts by Collingwood president Eddie McGuire to snare Nick Riewoldt.

The Saints have slammed McGuire for making direct contact with their skipper about a possible switch to the Magpies.

Collingwood had caught wind of Riewoldt’s disenchantment with his club in recent weeks and boldly made an overture.

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St Kilda coach Scott Watters rang McGuire on Wednesday to express his displeasure, adamant Riewoldt was going nowhere.

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Saints chief executive Michael Nettlefold last night confirmed he had also spoken to Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert about McGuire’s conduct.

“I am aware Eddie McGuire will in the course of his media role make contact with players,” Nettlefold told the Herald Sun.

“However, I phoned Gary Pert, my counterpart at Collingwood, to express my disappointment that a conversation of the nature as it has been expressed to me has taken place.

“Nick Riewoldt is a champion of our club, he’s a Saints man through and through and he won’t be going anywhere.”

Asked yesterday about his approaches to Riewoldt, McGuire told the Herald Sun: “I don’t comment on anything to do with trades, (recruiting manager) Derek Hine looks after all the list management at Collingwood.

Riewoldt, 30, is highly unlikely to leave the Saints, but is known to be concerned with some aspects of the club and the linking of senior teammates Nick Dal Santo and Leigh Montagna to trades.

Speculation is also mounting over unrest within St Kilda’s football department and Watters’ forceful management style.

Free agent Dal Santo is being courted by North Melbourne, but the club said no formal offer had been tabled.

Riewoldt, who is holidaying with his wife in the US, spoke to the club via Skype on Wednesday and is said to be satisfied with what he heard.

As a contracted player, any move away from Seaford for Riewoldt would require a trade.

St Kida has emphatically dismissed speculation about his future, declaring he is a Saint for life.

“Nick Riewoldt will not be traded,” football boss Chris Pelchen said in a statement on Monday.

McGuire is a long-time acquaintance of Riewoldt and has advised him on non-football matters.