ST KILDA midfielder Farren Ray could remain a Saint next year despite advances by Melbourne after he struggled for senior opportunities this season.
Ray, 26, has 12 months to run on his current contract but was restricted to 11 games this year with new coach Scott Watters opting to play younger talent instead.
He finished eighth in Sandringham's best and fairest after spending a large part of the season in the VFL.
Ray's manager believes he was inside the club's best 25 for much of the year, and with Brendon Goddard's move to Essendon and a homesick Jamie Cripps' desire to be traded to West Coast, he still had something to offer the Saints.
"Nothing has changed. He's contracted at St Kilda so that's all the same," Ray's manager Marty Pask told Gillette AFL Trade Radio.
"I do [think he'll stay a Saint] at the moment, most definitely. Nothing has jumped up at this point in time that suggests otherwise.
"St Kilda certainly haven't mentioned anything otherwise, so at this point in time, I foresee him being a St Kilda footballer and he's got that one year to go for next season.
"I felt half-way through this season that Farren played some really good footy and started to really buy into the game plan and played that role particularly well.
"Although he was out of the side, he was certainly in the best 25 quite regularly."
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Meanwhile, Pask said he remained "very confident" Carlton free agent Jordan Russell would find a new AFL home.
Port Adelaide let Pask know in the middle of last week it had lost interest in the 25-year-old defender but Pask believes Russell could be a good fit for Greater Western Sydney.
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"I just think he's the right age ... he's played over 100 games of football and a lot of people don't realise, even though he had a bit of an up and down year this year, he actually spent the year in Carlton's leadership group," he said.
"For a guy, when you drop them back to the VFL, to still be in the leadership group is probably a big tick on someone's character.
"At the moment, I'm confident he'll get an opportunity, we're going down that path at the moment.
"Since late last week we have had some interest from a couple of opportunities and we are exploring those at the moment.
"We're looking to have something wrapped up in the free agency period; if not, we'll need to explore opportunities for trade week or in that delisted free agency period."
Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.
