In-demand Flanders chooses St Kilda; premiership Pie Mihocek crosses to Demons

In-demand Sun Sam Flanders has nominated St Kilda as his preferred new club as the Saints’ money-splashing off-season continues to gather momentum.

The Gold Coast star’s decision, which could help unlock the Christian Petracca trade, came on the same day veteran Collingwood forward Brody Mihocek confirmed he was leaving the Magpies to accept a three-year deal with Melbourne.

However, Mihocek could be traded instead of signing as an unrestricted free agent, to avoid diluting the Demons’ compensation for Charlie Spargo, who is crossing to North Melbourne on a three-year contract. There have been early discussions between Melbourne and Collingwood about a possible trade.

Clubs’ compensation picks are a sum of their ins and outs throughout free agency.

Former Essendon ruckman Sam Draper’s free agency move to Brisbane is also official, with the Bombers set to receive pick 20 as compensation for the 78-gamer, who is recovering from a season-ending Achilles setback.

That compensation could change, too, given Essendon are hoping to secure Suns winger Brayden Fiorini, who is an unrestricted free agent.

Flanders – who is contracted for two more years but requested a trade at his exit meeting – also had significant interest from Essendon, Melbourne and Carlton before joining Tom De Koning, Jack Silvagni, Leek Aleer and Liam Ryan in choosing St Kilda.

The 24-year-old accepted a five-year deal worth about $900,000 annually to continue the list transformation at the big-spending Saints.

The Blues withdrew from the race this week, but Flanders had a similarly big offer from the Bombers and was viewed as a potential part of any Petracca deal between Gold Coast and the Demons.

St Kilda will offer their first pick in this year’s draft, currently No.7, to convince the Suns to part with Flanders – and that selection should be a key part of the Petracca trade, although Melbourne are also keen on Gold Coast rising star Bailey Humphrey.

The Suns are so far reluctant to part with Humphrey, who met with new Demons coach Steven King and club great Nathan Jones in Melbourne on Friday.

Petracca’s impending departure comes as the Demons encourage fellow premiership stars Clayton Oliver and Steven May to explore their opportunities. Oliver met with the Giants in Sydney on Friday.

Another 2021 premiership player, Spargo, has already left in free agency, while out-of-contract defender Judd McVee wants to return to Western Australia to play for Fremantle.

Mihocek’s arrival is the first of several recruits Melbourne hope to secure, including Humphrey and emerging St Kilda ruckman Max Heath. The Saints could also lose another ruckman, Rowan Marshall, who has requested a trade to Geelong.

Demons list manager Tim Lamb was delighted to sign Mihocek, whose role beyond kicking goals for his new club will include mentoring young forwards Jacob van Rooyen, Matt Jefferson and Luker Kentfield.

Mihocek, who turns 33 in February, kicked 267 goals in 159 matches for the Pies – being their leading goalkicker five times – after being plucked from the VFL in the 2017 rookie draft.

“We are really excited to add someone of Brody’s experience and character to our group,” Lamb said.

“He has proven himself as a consistent performer, and his ability to compete in the air and hit the scoreboard will be a great asset for us. Brody is a team-first player who, we believe, will have a strong impact on our younger forwards and complement the mix we are building.”

The Saints plan to take advantage of the league’s salary cap rules, where clubs can spend above the salary cap if they have paid below the maximum in previous seasons, to fit their bevy of recruits in.

Their aggressive free agency and trade approach has raised eyebrows, and there is a general fascination about whether it will pay off, but St Kilda president Andrew Bassat said at the club’s best-and-fairest function that it was based on what had worked.

“We’ve been relatively active in the recruiting space this off-season,” Bassat said.

“De Koning, Silvagni, Ryan and Aleer have all chosen to join us. It’s exciting and validating that they’ve all bought into our vision for future success. Our strategy is based on the evidence of history, which suggests that four years of drafting gives you a solid base, but almost always needs to be topped up by trading and free agency.

“We not only feel that now is the right time to go down this path – we feel it’s essential.”

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