Alan Richardson reveals he told Jack Steven St Kilda wouldn’t trade him amid Geelong interest last year

Ex-Saints coach Alan Richardson has revealed what he told Jack Steven after he requested a trade last year as the star onballer is again linked with a potential switch to Geelong.

Alan Richardson shut down a trade request for Jack Steven last year. Picture: Michael Klein.  

Alan Richardson pleaded with four-time best-and-fairest winner Jack Steven not to leave St Kilda last year, with speculation mounting the on-baller will request a trade to Geelong at season’s end.

Richardson said Steven approached him about a potential move last year, but the then-St Kilda coach told him: “we need you, we can’t have you go”.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE ‘SACKED’ PODCAST

He said a mooted switch to Geelong was “shut down really quickly”, but added the club faced a “delicate” call if Steven asked to be traded again.

“There was a fair chance those conversations went a bit deeper with people like Simon Lethlean,” he said on SEN.

“But certainly with me, from a coaches’ perspective (I said), ‘we need you, we can’t have you go’.

“That will be interesting to see where that goes.

“I think what the footy club will do, there will be a balance.

“The right thing by Jack, given the circumstance and his mental health, and of course they have got to keep trying to do the right thing by the footy club. It’s a delicate one.”

TRADE TALK: GOLDSTEIN WEIGHS UP SAINTS OFFER

TARGET: COULD JENKINS SOLVE PIES’ PROBLEMS?

Richardson said St Kilda would demand a trade bounty for Steven.

“Jack was certainly asking the question last year,” he said.

“Four-time best-and-fairest winner. We had been in the market for people like Devon Smith and Dylan Shiel.

“We were after elite mids to complement, let alone lose one.”

Steven has taken time away from the game this year due to mental health issues and featured in the past three weeks in the VFL.

Alan Richardson shut down a trade request for Jack Steven last year. Picture: Michael Klein.  

The 54-year-old defended St Kilda’s recruitment of midfielder Dan Hannebery, who has battled groin and calf issues and only managed two games in his first year at the club.

“That’s been tough. But I think long-term he’s still going to be a really good player,” he said. “I was quite heavily involved in all of that and I was wanting him to come to the footy club as much as anyone.

FINALS: HOW YOUR TEAM CAN MAKE THE TOP EIGHT

ROBBO: DO BLUES WANT VOSS OR TEAGUE?

“I still think he’s going to end up being a real positive.”

Richardson said he was open to working with a young coach as a mentor and had fielded offers since his departure from the Saints.

“I have certainly had some conversations, which has been flattering,” he said.

“I am quite excited, potentially, about some opportunities.

“That’s the sort of role I think I am suited to given my experiences.”