St Kilda did not enter the draft until Pick 41 but emerged with a pair of credentialed talents who finished 2025 well to prove what they can become at AFL level.
St Kilda placed a bid on West Coast father-son prospect Charlie Banfield, and the Eagles had filled their quota of primary list spots, so were unable to match a bid.
The Saints then matched Richmond's bid for Kye Fincher at Pick 52.
Whispers linked St Kilda with a move up the draft board, with Jevan Phillipou, the brother of emerging talent Mattaes, a potential target, but they ultimately strengthened their midfield-forward line with a pair of later selections.
Banfield is the son of 265-game Eagle Drew Banfield and showed excellent running capacity, aerial ability and courage during the 2025 U18s National Championships for Western Australia.
“He's a player we could see play on a wing (or as a) mobile forward, he's 192cm (and) has a huge tank,” senior recruiter Simon Dalrymple said.
“Charlie was someone that we rated really highly - he's a really impressive athlete, the character is really strong, (he showed) great leadership at Scotch College in Perth.
“He runs a 6:08 minute two-kilometre, and his ability to get up and back is a bit similar to Mason Wood, that type of athlete, so we're rapt to have him.”
He capped off his season with a Mel Whinnen Medal performance as best on ground in the WAFL Colts Grand Final, accumulating 28 disposals, to go with four tackles and two goals in a balanced performance as a big-bodied midfielder.
While pleased with his finish to 2025, Dalrymple indicated that an onballer is not the role the club views him in long term.
“We probably see his primary role as being more the wing, high half-forward, similar to Hugh Boxshall, who we picked up last year," Dalrymple added.
“They're both from the same club and same school and are good mates.
“It was a good sign he could win his own footy and you're never quite sure of their roles but we think wing/half forward which he displayed at the ‘champs'.”
Dalrymple's comments about where the Saints see Fincher playing long-term were fascinating,
“We see him as a mobile forward who can play midfield,” Dalrymple said.
Forward is the line that Fincher has been least exposed to across 2025, starting the season as a running half-back, before shining when he went into the midfield for then Saints-aligned VFL side Sandringham Zebras, and Coates Talent League club Sandringham Dragons.
When pressed, Dalrymple indicated that the club sees him as a midfielder-forward, but given the rarity of players who start their career in the engine room, it appears likely he will start his career in attack.
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“It's a combination of midfield and forward,” Dalrymple added.
“His aerial ability, his power and he's a really good shot at goal and that was soemthing that stood out (during) his footy for Brighton (Grammar).
“We think he's got a lot of attributes to play forward with that ability to compete in the air and at ground level.”
There was widespread belief that Fincher could attract a bid as high as the mid-20s, which the Saints would have been unlikely to match given their limited capital in 2025, but he ultimately slipped through, enabling them to match a bid without parting with points.
Dalrymple's comments about where they viewed him seemed to reinforce the club would not have overstretched to match a bid had it come in that range.
“It was an interesting season, he played a lot of footy at half-back, which we don't see as his primary role," he added.
“How others saw that, I'm not sure but we just rank them in order.
“We don't make emotional decisions in terms of whether we like them or whether they're part of our academy, it is purely their footy and where they can project so that's how we came to that decision.”
St Kilda is set to re-rookie running midfielder Pat Said, who they acquired at the 2024 National Draft and had an interrupted first season with injury, but will otherwise be inactive at the rookie and pre-season drafts.
