Rivals were already fuming at the flow-on effect of the Saints’ spending, which had seen agents use those deals as the basis for contract requests for their own clients. Ultimately, St Kilda can spend their salary cap however they see fit – and only time will tell whether this strategy pays off or backfires.
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But the Saints’ treatment of Aleer is very ordinary.
They first courted him last year, while he was still under contract, but the Giants defender showed loyalty and wanted to complete his deal. His goal was to hopefully become a senior regular at the club that drafted him.
Aleer was unable to do that in the early stages of this year before playing 13 of the last 14 matches, including the final against the Hawks – but St Kilda’s huge offer and the likelihood of a smoother passage to senior matches proved irresistible.
Aleer’s management, Centimeter Perfect Global, is a two-man operation and certainly not a goliath akin to Connors Sports or TGI Sport.
Industry figures have already wondered aloud whether the Saints would pull the same stunt if Aleer was represented by one of the bigger agencies. Everyone knows the answer.
Another of Centimeter Perfect Global’s clients is St Kilda’s promising defender Alix Tauru. That will be a fun reunion between the parties when they eventually discuss Tauru’s extension.
The Saints have won a single premiership in a mostly mediocre history and, like North Melbourne, have struggled to attract big-name recruits in the past.
St Kilda’s Graeme Allan.Credit: AFL Photos
Behind Allan, Stephen Silvagni and Simon Dalrymple, they have hyper-aggressively set about changing that with outrageous spending, after using first-round picks on Mattaes Phillipou, Darcy Wilson, Lance Collard, Tobie Travaglia and Tauru over the past three years.
St Kilda are clearly adopting a ruthless approach, and their fans undoubtedly won’t care if it leads them to a drought-busting premiership.
But actions like the Aleer backflip will make it easier not to feel sorry for them if that bid fails.
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