FOLLOWING an active Trade Period, St Kilda looked to bring in some readymade talent over draft selections in order to crack into the AFL Women’s Finals series. With three best 21 players walking in the door, the Saints do not enter the AFLW Draft until Pick 32, but have gone for the here-and-now approach.

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2024 RECORD: 11th, 4-7, 95.7%
2024 PICKS: 32, 57, 62

LIST CHANGES:
IN: Charlotte Baskaran (Hawthorn), Amber Clarke (Essendon), Nicola Barr (GWS)
OUT: Grace Kelly (Adelaide), Steph Chiocci, Simone Nalder (retired), Maddy Boyd, Nat Exon, Caitlin Matthews, Beth Pinchen (delisted)

FIRST PICK:
Pick 32

It will be a little while until Saints fans can welcome their first draftee, waiting until Pick 32 to hear a name called out. That puts them as the second last side to enter, but thanks to the depth of this year’s draft, there is still plenty of quality at that stage. With a couple of talls gone, the Saints might look for a big to step in, with Dandenong Stingrays’ Zoe Besanko an athletic tall tied to one of the Saints’ close Talent League clubs.

Besanko is one of a number of high-upside talls, with Lions Academy duo Lilly Baker and Chloe Gaunt a couple more, the latter available in the open draft without being matched. If Millie Lang was still on the board then she would be a strong inclusion to the defence, while St Kilda might even look for more flexibility and go for a player like Giants Academy member Amelie Prosser-Shaw.

REMAINING CROP:
Picks 57, 62

The wait for the Saints’ last two selections will be a little while, but at this stage 57 and 62 will become 55 and 58 respectively. Still, the later picks might see the white, red and black look for players to fill needs. A winger to replace Steph Chiocci is one option, with Evie Parker a tall and athletic option, while local Sandringham Dragons co-captain Scout Howden is another good shout at that stage of the draft.

If fellow Dragon Daisy Flockart was on the board, then she adds versatility, height and explosiveness across the board. Some other names who offer value as talls are Southport’s Siobhan Ross and West Adelaide’s Lucy Boyd.

KEY QUESTIONS:

– Will the Saints go best available or fill a need with Pick 32?
– Does St Kilda go all young, or follow what it has done in the past and look for a mature-ager late?
– Will the Saints add extra height or target speed?