DEAL THREAT
Cats could walk away from Steven deal to back kids
GEELONG GE is prepared to walk wa away from the Jack Steven deal and instead hand greater gr midfield opportunities ie to one of its own emerging g on-ballers. The Cats are at loggerheads with St Kilda after talks stalled on Steven’s desire to move down the coast and finish his career i in blue and white. Geelong has refused to hand over pick 37 for Steven without another pick from the Saints going the Cats’ way.
St Kilda, on the other hand, needs a better pick than 37 to help clinch deals for its swag of targets that includes Brad Hill, Zak Jones, Paddy Ryder, Dougal Howard and Dan Butler.
It means Geelong coach Chris Scott is happy to leave the Steven deal and instead give more playing time to youngsters Charlie Constable, Lachie Fogarty and potentially Nakia Cockatoo if he can overcome his wretched run after another season dogged by injuries.
The Cats remain bullish about their young crop — which they will add to at next month’s national draft with their best hand in almost two decades.
While Steven is a fourtime best-and-fairest winner at Moorabbin, his best footy is seemingly behind him after a difficult year dealing with some mental health issues.
Steven, 29, played only seven games in 2019 and faces a big summer trying to recover peak fitness to command a spot in the Geelong midfield.
Steven has admitted himself he lost conditioning during his time out of the game, but the Lorne product is keen to continue at the top level.
If there is no deal for the second year in a row, Steven would consider his options, which include remaining at St Kilda.
The explosive midfielder starred in his Round 21 comeback under new coach Brett Ratten against Fremantle, snagging three goals and 22 touches as a forward.
But the former Geelong Falcon found it more difficult in the last two games of the season, racking up 10 and 17 possessions.
Geelong list manager Stephen Wells will continue talking to the Saints over the last three days of the trade period but is becoming less confident a deal will be done for the contracted playmaker.
The Cats were more certain a month or two ago that St Kilda would accept a lesser pick for Steven but the two clubs made virtually no progress when they met last week.
St Kilda could offer pick No. 76 and potentially delve into its pocket of future picks from next year to try and sway the Cats to release No. 37 for Steven. St Kilda captain Jarryn Geary said Steven would leave with his teammates’ blessing after a tough year for him personally.
“I know he’s got a lot of pull to head down that way (Geelong) at some stage in his life,” Geary said. “For me, I just want Jack to be happy. The priority for me is for him to be happy and healthy. If that’s at St Kilda great, but if that’s at somewhere else then that’s OK, too.”