The free agency, trade week overlap, and the AFL National Draft are generally two very enjoyable times on the football calendar for St Kilda fans. It’s a time when we can dream freely without having our hearts ripped out.

This year’s free agency window and trade period started with a bang, had a long, slow middle, and then ended with another bang.

The Josh Battle “will he, won’t he—we better get band one compensation” soap opera split St Kilda fans into two camps. Many wanted Josh to stay, while others hoped for a top-10 pick. We collectively held our breaths on the first official day of the free agency window, and the AFL awarded St Kilda pick 8 as compensation! We were on cloud 8—no, cloud 9! We applauded our president as many media identities lost their minds. St Kilda was public enemy number one, and we loved it.

We now had picks 7 and 8 in a draft labeled by many as the deepest talent pool in at least a dozen years. We sipped on our tasty Inglewood lattes, smugly glowing, admiring our two top-10 picks, as Damien Barrett’s tears filled the Yarra. “Josh who?” we asked. Jokes aside, we all wish Josh Battle the best.

As the Free Agency Window overlapped into trade week, reports of Jack Hayes doing a medical at the Pies, a Port ruck (Ivan Soldo) wanting to come to the Saints, and Tim Membrey being courted by several clubs filled our newsfeeds.

However, another story we had been following had gone quiet: there was no early trade with the Doggies for Jack Macrae. Jack had requested a trade to the Saints back in mid-September. With Brad Crouch under a very serious injury cloud and great club man Seb Ross not being offered a 2025 deal, Macrae was seen as an experienced hand to work alongside Jack Steele and Zak Jones over the next year or two, until our younger mids in waiting (Windhager, Philipou, Garcia, Dow, Byrnes, etc.) are ready to grab the baton.

Over the trade weekend, St Kilda did its due medical diligence regarding offering the Power’s Ivan Soldo a contract. To cut a short story even shorter, St Kilda decided not to proceed with the deal.

As the final days passed, St Kilda explored a pick swap with Brisbane and was also asked to help facilitate the Liam Baker deal between West Coast and Richmond. That facilitation did not occur; however, the Lions pick swap went ahead, with St Kilda handing over pick 27 for picks 32 and 45. Many suggested pick 45 was intended to get the Macrae deal done. As Jake from Saints TV mentioned in one of his reports, pick 32 will probably end up being pick 28, as clubs bundle picks together for academy points. We also had a dabble at getting Brodie Kemp from Carlton, but we could not find a suitable deal for both clubs.

As we go to press, Jack Macrae is now a Saint! Welcome to the family, Jack! As Jake from Saints TV suggested, it was pick 45 that eventually got it done, in a mega swap deal involving Geelong and others. There will be more details to follow.

At the end of the free agency/trade period, in a nutshell, we have lost Josh Battle and pick 27. We have gained pick 8, pick 32, and Jack Macrae. We go to the draft armed with picks 7, 8, 32, and 47.

It will now be interesting to see what happens with Tim Membrey and Jack Hayes.