WILLJACKBEBACK? SAINTSUNSURE

FORMER St Kilda coach Alan Richardson says he is not sure whether want-away midfielder Jack Steven will be at the Saints next year, but believes he will once again request a trade at season’s end.

Steven, who hails from Lorne, has been linked to a move to Geelong for the 2020 season, and Richardson said he expected the four-time club champion to ask the question after doing so last year.

“I don’t know (whether he will be staying),” Richardson said on SEN Breakfast.

“Jack was certainly asking the question last year.

“He is a four-time best-andfairest winner but we had been in the market for people like Devon Smith and Dylan Shiel and elite mids to complement us, let alone lose one.

“It has been a tough year for Jack … so Jack just needs to make sure he gets himself right and my understanding is that he is tracking the right way. He’s just a terrific person (from) a great family.

“He loves Lorne and there has always been a pull down there. It is obviously between the footy club and Jack, but they (the Cats) will (ask the question) and the Saints will certainly want something for him because he has been an outstanding player.”

St Kilda acquired Sydney premiership player Dan Hannebery in the off-season after missing some of its other trade targets, but injuries have restricted him to just two games in 2019.

A combination of issues has seen Steven play only four matches this year, and Richardson said any move would need to be in the best interests of both the player and the club.

Richardson said last year’s talk was shut down quickly. “He was really good about it too in the conversations with me,” he said.

“There is a fair chance those conversations went a bit deeper with people like Simon Lethlean, but certainly with me, from a coach’s perspective, (I said) ‘No Jack, we need you, we can’t have you go’.

“It will be interesting to see where that goes, but I think what the footy club will do, is there will be a balance — so the right thing by Jack given the circumstances and his mental health, and of course they have got to keep doing the right thing by the footy club, so it’s a delicate one.”