St Kilda have seemingly failed to see out the club's commitment to draft one player from the Sandringham Zebras to their list this year - the very first window of the club's announcement to strengthen ties with their VFL affiliate.
The Saints confirmed in October 2023 that they would "use one of its rookie list places to draft a Sandringham player" from this year, however none of their six draftees came through the Zebras pathway.
The club had nominated Next Generation Academy talent Adrian Cole and Lennox Hofmann as well as father-son prospect Elwood Peckett for this week's draft windows. All three teenagers would have been eligible as Zebras selections but weren't picked up by the club.
Hofmann landed at Geelong at Pick 66 after St Kilda decided against matching a bid for the medium-sized defender, who had featured for the Zebras against Richmond's VFL side in August.
Peckett also made his Sandringham debut against the Tigers, while the same match was Cole's second at the level after he featured a fortnight earlier against Essendon's reserves.
During the trade period, football boss Dave Misson hinted one of the Saints' club-tied prospects could be used to complete the club's list commitment.
"We spent a lot of time looking at the Sandy players, obviously. We used some of our NGA kids to play for Sandringham as well," he said last month.
Instead, the Saints secured Tobie Travaglia (Pick 8), Alixzander Tauru (Pick 10), James Barrat (Pick 32), Hugh Boxshall (Pick 45), Alex Dodson (Pick 53) and Patrick Said (Pick 60) at the National Draft before using their sole Rookie Draft vacancy for delisted veteran Brad Crouch.
The club's draft haul means there is no room for a Sandringham player despite this off-season being the club's first year of their commitment.
The Zebras struggled to fire in 2024, winning eight games for the year and being the only club not to have a player represented in the league's Team of the Year squad from a 21-club competition.
Sandringham has since undergone mass changes from a coaching and player perspective, with senior coach Jake Batchelor returning to Richmond as Saints great Brendon Goddard steps into the top job.
The Zebras have also seen a host of top-line players depart the club since the end of the season, with Darby Hipwell, Tom Blamires, Hugo Hall-Kahan and Tarkyn O'Leary already finding new VFL homes.
The Saints can still see out their commitment to recruit a Sandringham player ahead of the 2025 season but that may rely on a currently listed player retiring or being delisted, with the Supplemental Selection Period - which opens on Monday - the last mechanism for clubs to add to their list before the new campaign.
St Kilda were contacted for comment.ย
