• Key dates for the NAB AFL Trade Period
WESTERN Bulldogs midfielder Koby Stevens has requested a trade to St Kilda.
AFL.com.au understands the out-of-contract 25-year-old met with Saints coach Alan Richardson last week and has chosen Seaford as his new home ahead of an attractive offer from Essendon.
Saints chief operating officer Ameet Bains told NAB AFL Trade Radio on Thursday that the impending addition of Stevens, along with Greater Western Sydney midfielder Jack Steele, who has also asked to be traded to St Kilda, will add plenty of physicality to their onball division.
"We think that we need to build greater midfield depth, and I think the two Grand Finalists this year highlighted what we're competing against," he said.
"Then there's teams like the Giants who are also rich in that area of the ground.
"Certainly size was one area that we were looking to address.
"To bring in guys like Jack Steele and Koby Stevens, we think they'll offer some support and protection to our frontline midfielders like Jack Steven and David Armitage."
After playing the first six games of the season, Stevens missed seven of the next eight games with an abdominal complaint.
The Gippsland Power product, who averaged 22 disposals and five tackles a game in 2016, was dropped after the round 19 loss to Geelong, despite serious injuries to fellow midfielders Tom Liberatore and Jack Macrae.
He played out the remainder of the season in the VFL apart from the round 23 loss to Fremantle, as Josh Dunkley and Clay Smith were preferred ahead of him as high half-forwards.
After career-best form in 2015, a foot stress fracture and punctured lung prematurely ended Stevens' year in round 15.
The inside midfielder has managed 63 games in four seasons at Whitten Oval, following just 11 games in three years at West Coast.
Stevens becomes the second player to request a trade to the Saints this trade period, with Giant Jack Steele also wanting a fresh start at the club.
The Bulldogs also expect midfielder Nathan Hrovat to leave, with North Melbourne and Carlton jostling for the former Vic Metro captain's services.
Premiership defender Joel Hamling is weighing up a lucrative offer from Fremantle, with the versatile stopper to meet with the Dogs later this week to decide his future.
