ST KILDA is hoping to secure West Coast defender Mitch Brown by offering homesick youngster Jamie Cripps to the Eagles.
West Australian native Cripps has told the Saints he wishes to return home, nominating the Eagles as his club of choice.
Brown, who is contracted to the Eagles for next year has pushed for the exact opposite move, informing St Kilda he wishes to join the club.
"We can't get into specifics, he's still a contracted player at West Coast. There is a lot of water to go under that bridge," Saints list manager Ameet Bains said after the first day of the Gillette AFL Trade Period.
"They're keen to keep Mitch. He is a contracted player and we understand that so depending on what happens with Jamie Cripps we will continue to talk in the next couple of days."'
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The Saints had been keen to change Cripps' mind about a return home but would happily trade him away for Brown, who would fill a pressing need for a key defender.
"It has been well-documented through Scott (Watters) and Chris' (Pelchen) discussions on behalf of the club this year that we need another big key back so it would be terrific," Bains said.
The Saints had earlier traded away pick 12 as part of a deal with Greater Western Sydney that will bring West Australian forward Tom Lee to the Saints.
While that could affect the club's bargaining power in its bid for Gold Coast's Josh Caddy, Bains said the Saints were still in contention to secure the 20-year-old.
"He is certainly still in the mix. We've had some discussions with Gold Coast today and we'll keep having those discussions," Bains said.
Bains said the Saints were hopeful of receiving the maximum compensation for losing Brendon Goddard, which as it stands would be the 13th overall.
"What is unknown at this stage is whether we will land a pick for Brendon departing to Essendon so we think we've got a bit of currency," Bains said.
"We'd like to think it would be at that range. Obviously the AFL won't confirm for a couple more weeks but we're hopeful."
Luke Holmesby covers St Kilda news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter - @AFL_Luke
