By Sam McClure
St Kilda have identified a group of elite midfielders from rival clubs that they will target in the next 18 months, as part of the club’s aggressive list management strategy to add more A-grade talent to its ranks.
The Scoop has discussed St Kilda’s situation with player movement experts across the industry who would not be named because players’ careers, club strategies and salaries were involved.
Brisbane Lions star Hugh McCluggage, contracted North Melbourne bull Luke Davies-Uniacke and Fremantle dynamo Andrew Brayshaw are all on the Saints’ hit list, as the club looks to utilise the significant bankroll at its disposal.
The club has a significant war chest at its disposal, as a result of a mixture of frugal player payments and tough calls to let players join rival clubs.
The club cleared more than $2 million from its total player payments at the end of last year when it allowed Jade Gresham to join Essendon, Nick Coffield to join the Western Bulldogs and Jack Billings to join Melbourne.
Gresham was earning close to $850,000 in his final year as a Saint, when he kicked 21 goals from 23 games, while top 10 draft picks Coffield and Billings were both earning $600,000 each.
Brisbane star Hugh McCluggage.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images
Max King, Jack Steele, Rowan Marshall and Brad Hill are the highest-paid players at the club, all earning between $800-900,000 per season.
Hill’s contract expires at the end of the season and he is expected to recommit to the Saints on a significantly reduced deal, which will free up more space in the club’s salary cap for 2025.
While St Kilda are happy with their combination of talent, youth and experience in both attack and defence, there is an acknowledgement internally that the list needs ready-made midfielders in the prime of their career.
St Kilda were contacted for comment, along with the management of Davies-Uniacke, Brayshaw and McCluggage.
Luke Davies-Uniacke.Credit: afl.com.au
Seb Ross, Brad Crouch, Mason Wood and Hill are now all in their 30s, while dual All-Australian and best and fairest winner Jack Steele is 28.
Crouch, who has just entered the last season of a four-year deal worth $700,000 per season, triggered a fifth year of a contract when he played his first game in round two against Geelong.
The Victorian-born McCluggage, who was one of Brisbane’s best players in their close grand final loss to Collingwood last year, becomes a restricted free agent at season’s end.
The club’s vice captain has constantly reiterated his desire to stay at the Lions, both privately and publicly.
“It is important to [state my intention to stay]. The boys always ask you the question with subtle digs. We want to keep good people around and they are in the same boat with me. So yeah, I definitely want it to happen but it’s definitely a business so you have to make sure you do your due diligence and get the best possible result for both the club and yourself personally,” McCluggage told News Corp last month.
Despite the high regard in which McCluggage is held in Brisbane, he’s not earning crazy money. He has never been All-Australian and despite finishing on the podium for the last five years running, he is yet to be crowned a best and fairest winner at the Lions.
At $800,000 per season, St Kilda have identified his contractual status as an opportunity and believe that he could be a million-dollar player.
Davies-Uniacke and Brayshaw, taken at picks two and four respectively in the 2017 draft, both become free agents at the end of 2025.
The pair is managed by Paul Connors and Tom Petroro of TLA, respectively – two of the most influential and high-profile player managers in the AFL.
Despite missing games through injury last year, Davies-Uniacke has established himself as North Melbourne’s premier midfielder and he would be seen at Arden Street as one of, if not the, key cog of a premiership tilt under coach Alastair Clarkson.
At 24, Brayshaw is already an All-Australian and a best and fairest winner at Fremantle. He and fellow gut-running midfielder Caleb Serong are viewed in the competition as one of the best midfield combinations in the game, particularly for their age.
Brayshaw was coached by Ross Lyon in his first two seasons before Lyon left Fremantle at the end of the 2019 season.
With the new CBA kicking in at the end of 2025, players will receive a significant boost in salaries, particularly premium players like Davies-Uniacke and Brayshaw.
Whether they choose to stay at their respective clubs or move, it is all but certain that both will sign contracts well north of $1 million per season.
St Kilda, like other cashed up clubs, are aware that they may fail in their pursuits of trade and free agency targets. But they also know that if they don’t land men on their hit list, it will force other rival clubs to pay “overs” to keep players on their list.
One list manager, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the game was moving closer to a player being offered a contract on which he would earn $2 million in a single season, depending on whether the contract was front- or back-ended.
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correction
This story initially said, incorrectly, that Nick Coffield had joined North Melbourne. He now plays for the Western Bulldogs.