ST KILDA will seek the AFL's permission for Tim Membrey to start pre-season training with the club before he officially becomes a Saint on December 3.

 

The Saints are committed to taking the Sydney Swans' forward with the first selection in the NAB AFL Pre-season Draft after failing to trade for him.

 

They are poised to formally notify the AFL of their intention to recruit him, which means they can also look to include him in training sessions ahead of the draft.

 

Membrey, 20, had a late finish to the year with the NEAFL Grand Final on September 20, where he booted five goals in a losing Swans' team.

 

AFLPA rules stipulate players must have an unbroken period of eight weeks' leave, meaning he will eligible to start three weeks after the Saints' first-to-four year players return on November 5.

 

Meanwhile, the Saints will meet next week to talk about the future of veteran Adam Schneider.

 

Despite minimal movement in the NAB AFL Trade Period, the Saints are yet to decide whether he will be offered another contract.

 

The 30-year-old was told at the season's end he would have to wait until they had a better idea of the composition of their list before a call was made.

 

The Saints are also yet to decide Maverick Weller's status for 2015 after offering him a two-year contract.

 

They will finalise whether Weller starts next season on the senior list or as a nominated rookie in the coming weeks.

 

They have already announced the promotion of Eli Templeton, Cameron Shenton and Darren Minchington to the senior list.

 

South Australian half forward Terry Milera wasn't traded despite asking the club to fulfil his wish to return to his home state for personal reasons.

 

The Saints are yet to officially delist him but believe it is unlikely he will see out the final year of his contract in Victoria.

 

They will talk about his future next week when the dust has settled on the trade period, which finished on Thursday at 2pm.

 

"We had conversations with both Adelaide and Port Adelaide about Terry and his desire to return home," head of football Chris Pelchen told AFL.com.au.

 

"We hadn't given any commitment to Terry about a trade except that we would explore it.

 

"He's indicated to the club he has a genuine desire to be back in Adelaide and he's home at the moment without any guarantee he will return – that would be a decision for him to make."

 

Pelchen said the Saints' stance regarding Ahmed Saad had not changed despite their low level of involvement in the player exchange period.

 

He said they had not committed to their former forward, who has kept himself fit with the help of a personal trainer while serving his 18-month ASADA ban. 

 

The Saints have kept in touch with Saad through their player welfare manager Tony Brown and believe him to be in good physical condition.

 

"He's in a really good headspace right now and he's committed and is training extremely hard with a personal trainer to prove that he is fit enough and in the mental space to apply himself to AFL football again," he said.

 

"We're encouraged by that, whether he is at St Kilda or otherwise, but we haven't made a decision on that at this stage.

 

"We won't make that decision until draft day, whether that be national draft or the pre-season draft or rookie draft.

 

"We'll make an assessment on Ahmed relative to other players who are still in the draft at that time."

 

The Saints' only activity in the trade period was to send Rhys Stanley and draft pick No.60 to Geelong for pick No.21.