Koby Stevens tells Western Bulldogs he wants to play for St Kilda

KOBY Stevens tells Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge he wants to be traded to St Kilda. But deals for Travis Cloke and Will Hoskin-Elliott are a long way off.

VFL Footscray v Essendon Koby Stevens Picture: Wayne Ludbey

KOBY Stevens has told Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge he wants to be traded to St Kilda.

The fringe midfielder has played 24 games under Beveridge in two seasons, but no finals.

A decision on the out-of-contract ball-winner’s future was delayed due to the Dogs’ premiership success.

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Stevens starred in Footscray’s VFL flag the week before the AFL Grand Final but he was unable to crack Beveridge’s 22.

Stevens, 25, has already met with Saints coach Alan Richardson.

The Herald Sunrevealed on Monday that St Kilda was poised to snare Stevens, despite reported links to Essendon.

Koby Stevens will boost St Kilda’s midfield depth. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

The Saints are keen to build midfield depth and are set to partner Stevens with Greater Western Sydney’s Jack Steele before the trade deadline.

Saints list boss Ameet Bains said Stevens would add class to the midfield.

“Koby has expressed his desire to join the Saints and we think his experience will make him a welcome addition to our midfield,” he said.

“The club will work with Western Bulldogs and Koby’s management towards a trade deal that will benefit all.”

Last week Bains said the club was midway through its strategic rebuild.

“We’re not one player away from winning a flag that’s the reality of it, so we still need to be quite considered in what we do,” Bains said.

“I think most clubs would say that you can’t have enough midfielders and that’s been highlighted by the Bulldogs on the Swans. They have the two deepest midfields in the comp.”

Stevens is likely to come cheaply.

A deal for Travis Cloke is still in the works.

The Gippsland Power product started his career at West Coast before moving to Whitten Oval four years ago.

He polled an impressive six Brownlow votes this season, but fell behind fellow uncontracted midfielders Lin Jong and Clay Smith in the pecking order.

Jong and Smith both re-signed days after the drought-breaking premiership.

The Dogs are also set to offload Nathan Hrovat, most likely to North Melbourne. Carlton is also in the mix for the small forward.

Premiership fullback Joel Hamling will spend the weekend weighing up whether to accept a lucrative three-year contract from Fremantle and return to Western Australia.

He also has a three-year deal on the table to stay at the Dogs.

The Dogs and Collingwood are yet to seriously discuss the Travis Cloke trade.

The Dogs only want to hand over a late pick, but the Pies will chase one of value to them.

Collingwood has not yet spoken to Greater Western Sydney about Will Hoskin-Elliott.

The contracted wingman wants to play for the Magpies, but if a trade is struck it is not likely to occur until late in trade period.

Any deal would almost certainly see Collingwood send a future pick to the Giants, to be used in the 2017 draft.