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Premiership contenders Fremantle and Geelong would both look significantly more potent next season with St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt at centre-half-forward.
Although Riewoldt is signed to the Saints until the end of next year, should one of those clubs sound out both him and the Saints about doing a deal to give him one last crack at a flag?
It is hard not to feel sorry for St Kilda’s skipper. Twice he came sickeningly close to winning a premiership with the Saints – in 2009 and 2010 – and now he is finishing his distinguished career in a basket case of a side.
At a time when there are a plethora of woeful teams in the AFL, St Kilda are comfortably the worst. They have lost their last 10 games on the trot by an average of 63 points.
There is not a skerrick of light at the end of the tunnel either. With several ageing stars set to depart in the next season or two, and few young guns coming through the ranks, they are likely to remain in the competition’s dank cellar until the end of Riewoldt’s playing days.
The Saints are in all-out rebuild mode. They must not only nail their draft recruiting but also take some risks at the trade table in order to infuse some youth and promise into their ailing list.
This is where Riewoldt comes into play. If he agreed to be traded – and he might if it was to a club within reach of a flag – the Saints could secure another draft pick, perhaps a high second-rounder.
It seems extremely unlikely such a deal would be done unless both Riewoldt and his club were happy with the situation. It would be a gamble by the Saints but they are in a position where they need to consider all options.
As for his value, Riewoldt may be 31 years old, but his body is in surprising good nick – he has not missed a game this season – and he remains one of the competition’s genuine stars.
The whole-hearted veteran is on target for a 55-goal season, while averaging 15 touches and eight marks a game.
That is a sensational return for a key forward in a floundering team which is incapable of providing him with either quantity or quality of delivery.
Consider how much more potent he would be in an elite side like Fremantle or Geelong, where he would get both of those things.
Moreover, the Dockers and the Cats are both desperately in need of a second key forward. Over in the West, gun spearhead Mathew Pavlich is routinely double-teamed because he is the only consistent aerial threat inside 50 metres for Fremantle.
At Pavlich’s feet are two of the game’s best small forwards in Hayden Ballantyne and Michael Walters. If that pair were hoovering up spillages created by two talented big men in Pavlich and Riewoldt, the Dockers would suddenly have a forward line almost as dangerous as any in the land.
Scoring power, and the associated lack of a second tall forward, is the Dockers only significant weakness. By recruiting Riewoldt, who apparently remains on good terms with his former coach and now Fremantle mentor Ross Lyon, they would greatly boost their chances of winning a long-awaited first premiership (assuming they don’t go all the way this year).
Handing St Kilda a second-round pick or a perhaps a young player of similar value would be a lean price to pay for such an opportunity.
Even more significantly, if Fremantle don’t win the flag this season, then their premiership window will be at risk of slamming shut. Their three most important players, structurally, Pavlich, key defender Luke McPharlin and ruckman Aaron Sandilands will turn 34, 34 and 33 years old respectively next year.
Once they retire it is hard not to see the Dockers falling back into the pack. That only makes snaring Riewoldt even more appealing.
As for the Cats, they would cherish another genuine target up forward to complement the brute force of Tom Hawkins.
Like Fremantle, this lack of a second tall forward is their most obvious shortcoming and hinders Hawkins, who is commonly swarmed by defenders.
Like Fremantle, Geelong have several brilliant veterans whose careers are nearing an end. Jimmy Bartel, Steve Johnson and James Kelly all turn 32 next year, Tom Lonergan and Andrew Mackie will be 31, and Corey Enright will be 34.
Those seven players are the core of an experienced, resilient and finals-hardened Cats outfit feared by every opponent when September arrives.
Adding Riewoldt could give them the push they need to nab one more flag as the end draws near for some of those key members of the Cats’ all-conquering teams of the past.
Of course, all this speculation ignores the fact that Riewoldt may be determined to stay put. A fiercely loyal man, he knocked back a substantial offer from Collingwood last year.
But a lot of things have changed since then, both for Riewoldt and St Kilda. A trade may now be the best thing for both parties.