St Kilda chief executive Matt Finnis says his club have the capacity to secure two superstars during the end-of-season free agency period.
Fremantle's Nat Fyfe, Richmond's Dustin Martin and GWS' Josh Kelly are the biggest names who come out of contract at the completion of the year, and Finnis said the Saints - who have been rumoured to be interested in all three players - can afford two players of that ilk.
โWeโve been pretty open that we are in the mix. We owe that not just to ourselves but to our supportersโฆthere is a time where you have to look at adding great talent,โ he said on SENโs Crunch Time on Saturday afternoon.
โWith the banking mechanism and the way the salary capโs going, weโve created the capacity to be able to (bring in two stars) but weโve also got to be able to make sure that we can look after the players that are growing on our list right now.โ
With St Kilda receiving Hawthorn's first-round pick following a trade between the two sides at the end of last season, the Saints have two first-round picks to work with, which could be used as trade bait.
Finnis saidย the club hasn't decided what to do with the two picks yet, statingย they'll wait until the season finishes before assessing their options.
โFundamentally we havenโt decided yet. We wonโt decide that until the trade period,โ Finnis said.
โItโs an enviable situation to have and I guess the worst case scenario for us is we get two of the top 18 players coming into the game coming to our club.โ
As well as St Kilda's off-season plans, Finnis also touched on coach Alan Richardson, saying the club was more than happy with how he's performing.
โWeโre right behind Richo and we couldnโt be more pleased with the work he is doing with our group,โ Finnis said.
โWe would expect him to be a coach of our football club for a very long time to come.
โWe would be prepared to (re-sign him) that if that was the right thing to doโฆthat would be something weโd sit down with Richo and his management in the back half of this year to have a look at and see.
โWe are pleased not just in terms of the work he is doing in terms of the playing group, but the way he leads our greater football program. Heโs a very impressive man.โ
