Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera's future remains up in the air, but St Kilda’s list boss Stephen Silvagni has taken a decisive step, flying to Adelaide to meet with the young star’s manager, Ben Williams, in what’s being billed as a pivotal moment in the contract saga.
As revealed by Caroline Wilson on 3AW Football, Silvagni wasn’t in Adelaide just to take in Carlton’s clash with Port Adelaide.
His trip, she said, is all about Wanganeen-Milera, one of the Saints’ most valuable assets and a top priority for retention.
“The meeting will be the pivotal one”
“If the manager won’t talk terms or money, then St Kilda will know they’re out of it,” Wilson said. “I think the meeting will be the pivotal one between Silvagni and Williams.”
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The 21-year-old faces a major career decision: stick with the club that drafted him and gave him his AFL start, or return home to South Australia, where interest from rival clubs is quietly growing. St Kilda remain confident, but the pressure is mounting.
Wanganeen-Milera is far from the only player on the Saints' books with questions over their future. Marcus Windhager, Jimmy Webster, Liam Stocker and Dougal Howard are all out of contract at season’s end, as the club juggles its retention efforts with aggressive interest in opposition talent, including Port Adelaide’s Miles Bergman and Hawthorn’s James Worpel.
But right now, Wanganeen-Milera looms as the biggest domino. If he stays, the Saints keep a core piece of their future. If he walks, the whole balance of their list strategy may shift.