Is St Kilda’s push for De Koning a disaster in the making?


Tom De Koning remains one of the biggest looming signatures in the AFL world with his contract expiring at the end of the 2025 AFL season with no pen on paper.

The Saints’ whopping $12 million, seven-year offer is the largest in the league’s history. But with Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera’s contract also expiring, is TDK the right move for St Kilda?

Simply put, I say no.

Get that sweet 12-months-free-roadside-assistance kind of care. Get the care you deserve at mycar Tyre & Auto.  T&Cs apply.

De Koning had an electrifying start to the season, averaging 23.5 disposals and around 33 hitouts a game across the first month. He’d solidified himself as one of the game’s best rucks, and in doing so, created some pressure around his signature.

In an underperforming Carlton team, the Saints have certainly tried to lure the 25-year-old from Princes Park and given the Blues’ lack of direction at the moment, it’s hard to see him turning down an additional $5 million over the seven-year period than that he’d earn at the Blues.

The Saints themselves have found the 2025 AFL season a struggle, sitting at 5-10 in 15th and it seems they will need a big offseason to help improve next year. With Wanganeen-Milera still yet to ink a new deal at the Saints, there’s growing concern at Moorabin that the attraction of his hometown Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power might be able to hijack him.

We have seen how frugal St Kilda are willing to be with their ‘war chest’ with highly public pursuits of Finn Callaghan for $1.7 million a year, Jacob Weitering for $1.5 million a year and just recently bullish midfielder Matt Rowell for a jaw-dropping $2 million a year.

Tom De Koning marks in front of Sam De Koning.

Tom De Koning marks in front of Sam De Koning. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Given these offers, it’s no surprise that the Saints are all in for De Koning, but is the ruck position something that the Saints should even be looking at?

To most, the Saints ruck position seems extremely stable with Rowan Marshall. He hasn’t given any reasons for the club to even think about replacing him as their ruckman. Coming off a career-best season averaging over 20 touches and 26 hitouts a game, Marshall has looked much of the same so far this season and is certain to be in the top five for the Trevor Barker Medal come Best & Fairest season to back up his fourth place in the 2024 season.

The acquisition of Tom De Koning would have one of two impact for the star Saint.

The more likely of the two options is the opening for the departure of Marshall, in what seems like an extremely harsh scenario. The big man is contracted until the end of 2027 but there would be a large list of potential suitors who are awaiting to see how this De Koning deal goes down.

The surefire options are Geelong, Adelaide, and potentially the Bombers as well as the obvious potential for Carlton to show some interest.

The Cats and the Crows are openly searching the market for a ruckman, with Geelong looking to bolster their team’s structure in a position they have lacked for years regardless of their success.

An improvement on Rhys Stanley, whose form and health have seen him in and out of the side over the past couple years, would mean that Mark Blicavs can return to playing his role as a ‘unicorn’ for the Cats, as a magnet Chris Scott can use to fill whichever hole he desires and potentially help the club return to the MCG come Grand Final day after missing out the last couple years.

The Crows’ pursuit of Bomber Sam Draper has also been quite public after Essendon’s contract offer was quite off what he was expecting but the introduction of Marshall to the trade table would certainly help settle Adelaide’s nerves to land a replacement or successor for aging Reilly O’Brien.

Adelaide’s dynamic midfield is one of the quickest in the league according to Champion Data’s speed of ball statistic. Whilst not the quickest ruck around the ground, Marshall isn’t far from it. His ability to push up the ground and act as an extra forward certainly fits the way the Crows have played this season and would allow him and Riley Thilthorpe to swap when a rest is needed.

Marshall’s ruckcraft, paired with Izak Rankine, Jordan Dawson, Jake Soligo and Josh Rachele’s speed might be the extra factor to help bring Matthew Nicks’ side’s first premiership since 1998.

The other alternative we could see at the Saints is the double ruck approach. Marshall and St Kilda are no strangers to the double ruck – in fact, they are one of the few successes of the hard to perfect formula.

In recent times, we have seen Fremantle’s attempt with Luke Jackson and Sean Darcy which is still hard to judge if it is successful or not with Sunday night’s 12-point win over the Siants probably the pair’s best outing to date.

St Kilda rocked the double-ruck between 2019-2021 with Marshall and since-retired Patrick Ryder and they did so to great avail. In that combination’s first 20 games together, they won 14, whilst winning just four of the remaining 15 they weren’t together.

Marshall and De Koning could partner up in what would probably be the most talented ruck duo in the competition and by far the most expensive.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 26: Max Gawn of the Demons competes in the ruck against Rowan Marshall of the Saints during the round 11 AFL match between Narrm (the Melbourne Demons) v Euro-Yroke (the St Kilda Saints) at Melbourne Cricket Ground, on May 26, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Max Gawn and Rowan Marshall battle (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

With that however, comes the risk of paying an enormous salary to someone who ends up getting shifted to the reserves if the experiment doesn’t pay off a second time in the same way we saw with Brodie Grundy’s season spent in the VFL after his blockbuster trade to the Demons in 2023 didn’t quite live up to the expectations that AFL fans were hoping for.

There is no doubts that De Koning would add a new level to this St Kilda team and serve as an improvement to Ross Lyon’s list but question have to be raised over what better could be done with $1.7 million of the salary cap each year.

The first of which is Wanganeen-Milera. Give the man a blank cheque. The speedy half-back is by far the club’s best player at just 22 years of age. His disposal of the footy is second-to-none and he is the future of the St Kilda Football Club should they land his signature.

From there, the club should still have a large amount of money to spend considering their hopes to land both Nasiah and De Koning. The areas the club are lacking seem to be the midfield and a key forward, but they have also expressed interest in an additional key defender.

The interest in Giants youngster Leek Aleer is seemingly a quality target. The agile and high-leaping intercept defender seems like an amaing fit for the Saints, however, whilst he has looked good early in his career, his lack of experience and the heavy price tag the Saints will have to pay salary-wise are certainly a risk.

Jack Silvagni has been an elite key defender so far this season, and has been one of Carlton’s very few shining lights. With an expiring contract and a Carlton Football Club that was clearly unprepared to have to fork out high numbers for him going forward, he is certainly gettable.

In what would shake the Silvagni name, he is a perfect fit for the key back role the Saints desire. However the quick rise as a fan favourite of the Flying Viking Alixzander Tauru might mean their key back issues are solved after his 14- spoil effort against the Dockers in round 16.

Hawks’ James Worpel remains a free agent and in light of Rowell’s contract extension, there’s certainly a battle for his signature but his bullish approach and scoreboard impact on his day could make him a key target to help bolster the Saints midfield in light of their struggles in recent weeks.

Additionally the constant setbacks for key forward Max King mean the Saints must be in the market for a forward and the club should look at an experienced player like Brody Mihocek.

Out of contract at the end of the year with a one-season extension offered by the Pies, there would be wiggle room with a three-year offer and a better salary to pry him out of Collingwood and help fix some of the issues in that St Kilda forward-line.

Ultimately, the money that is set to go to De Koning could be spent much better.

In a position the Saints already excel in, $1.7 million a year for an already struggling club seems likely to cause this team more suffering for fans to endure and extend the 59-year drought by at least a few more years.

With the right moves in this trade period, the Saints could spend this money on two or three players who make a meaningful impact and help the side finally push for some glory.



More From Author

Scout’s Analysis: What the Leafs get in Roy, lose in Marner

David Joseph CBE joins The Royal Society of Arts as Chief Executive Officer

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *