ST KILDA star Jack Steven remains in limbo with the Saints yet to find common ground in trade talks with Geelong.
Despite reports stating otherwise, Cats list manager Stephen Wells said the club hadn't yet offered pick No.37 for the four-time club champion.
Steven, who will turn 30 in March, played just seven games this season as he battled mental health issues.
He returned to play the last three rounds, including a superb comeback game in which he gathered 22 possessions and slotted a game-high three goals to lift the Saints' to a three-point win over Fremantle at Marvel Stadium in round 21.
Originally from Lorne, Steven played for Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup before being drafted by St Kilda at No.42 in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft. He wants to be closer to family and friends.
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"We've been talking to St Kilda. You like to get specific answers, but it's a negotiation and a discussion point," Wells said at the Connors Sports Management and PWC trade breakfast at Southbank on Friday morning.
"I must say James (Gallagher, list manager) has done a great job for St Kilda in putting forward their case and both clubs know what they value Jack at, and at the moment it's not quite matching up."
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Geelong is looking to bolster its midfield brigade after losing star midfielder Tim Kelly to West Coast, and Wells said Steven could "potentially" form part of the solution. However, he was also optimistic about the prospects the club's young midfielders and those it stood to claim in the draft.
The Cats, who were minor premiers and preliminary finallists this year, hold their strongest draft hand since the 2001 'Super Draft' with five of the top 37 picks – comprising selections 14, 17, 24, 36 and 37 – and Wells said they would be open to trading picks to climb further up the draft order.
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"We've got a lot of good players at our club that deserve an opportunity in the future – guys like Lachie Fogarty and Charlie Constable, Quinton Narkle who was playing in our finals team at the end of the year, Brandan Parfitt, so there's some young players there," he said.
"We've got a good draft hand and out of four or five picks at this year's draft, in the first half of the draft I reckon you could normally expect to get a couple of midfielders.
"Under the right circumstances, Jack at our club would be good. But if Jack's not at our club there will be other ways of trying to cover Tim Kelly and being a really competitive team next year."
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