Saints set hefty price for Marshall as Hawk weighs up Suns interest

St Kilda want Geelong’s first-round draft pick and a player in any trade for contracted ruckman Rowan Marshall.

Having failed to agree a deal for Marshall to move to Geelong 12 months ago when Tom De Koning arrived, St Kilda have put a hefty price on the contracted ruck, who is about to turn 31, with the Cats’ first pick at 14.

The Saints have not nominated a player they would like to pair with the pick for Marshall, having earlier made a failed bid for Lawson Humphries.

Saints footy boss Lenny Hayes told Trade Radio last week it was “going to take a little bit to get to a point where we’re satisfied as a football club because of how highly we rate Rowan,” but he said they were open to further discussions.

Such a deal would exceed recent transactions involving ruckmen, including Brodie Grundy’s trades to Melbourne and Sydney, although his deal involved the sharing of his contract. Adelaide’s Jordan Dawson cost the Crows pick 14 when he was traded from Sydney in 2022. However, the Saints can drive the asking price for a contracted player.

Meanwhile, Gryan Miers’ future remains cloudy given he took the precaution of doing a medical with West Coast before leaving for Italy. Miers is contracted for two more years and is reportedly happy at the Cats. He did the medical as a safeguard should talks between West Coast and Geelong lead to the Cats being open, or keen, for him to move.

Miers partially tore his ACL early in the season but did not have surgery and returned to play 17 games. There are no plans for him to have surgery on the knee, but given the unusual nature of the injury and treatment a club needed to do a medical on him before any talks progressed.

Should West Coast push for a trade for the 27-year-old forward, a draft pick in exchange would give Geelong options in discussions over Marshall.

Meanwhile, Jack Viney did a medical at Essendon on Saturday after already doing a medical when in Perth to visit the Eagles last week. Viney, who is contracted at Melbourne, is weighing his options which include remaining at the Demons.

Hawthorn’s Aiden Schubert is weighing up whether to visit Gold Coast as part of a trade which could unlock Ben King’s move as a free agent. A move would be unusual given he was pick 25 in last year’s draft and only recently signed an extension after playing one game this season. Calsher Dear’s decision to remain a Hawk means there is a logjam of key forwards, but Mabior Chol and Jack Gunston are only contracted until the end of 2027.

GWS want a first round draft pick for running defender Lachie Whitefield, the former No.1 draft pick. The Blues, with picks 23 and 24 in the draft, believe one of those selections is sufficient for the 32-year-old.

Whitfield is contracted until the end of next season.

Follow our live coverage of the AFL trade period from 9am each weekday starting Monday October 5.

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