After a year battling with a depleted list of tall players that created doubts about the durability of its big men, Geelong is seeking to pair Rhys Stanley from St Kilda with Mitch Clark as ruck forwards.
The Cats are looking to pass on the draft pick they received for losing Allen Christensen - selection 21 - to the Saints for Stanley. St Kilda is understood to be prepared to do the deal and it is now up to the contracted Stanley to make up his mind whether he wants to join the Cats.
A supremely quick player, well known for having won the grand final sprint, the ruckman-forward has struggled to play consistently to the standard he is capable of. At 200 centimetres, the 23-year-old Stanley has rucked, played key forward and back, and therefore has a versatility that appeals to the Cats.
The move to bring in Stanley and Mitch Clark - who will arrive at Geelong before the end of the week in the much anticipated three-way trade involving Heritier Lumumba moving to Melbourne and Travis Varcoe shifting to Collingwood - suggests there is some uncertainty over the ability of Nathan Vardy, Dawson Simpson and Hamish McIntosh to all recover full fitness.
While one or all may return to playing senior football next year, their recent histories of games missed cannot be ignored and the Cats are therefore seeking to insure against being left depleted again.
The Saints and Stanley have likewise had to consider what the succession plan for the St Kilda forward line is, with Nick Riewoldt expected to be playing his last year next year. The move to trade Stanley may suggest the Saints are even more likely to look at one of the tall players in the draft ,such as Paddy McCartin or Peter Wright with pick one.
Stanley will now weigh up the potential opportunities at both St Kilda and Geelong, to say nothing of the relative merits of moving from wooden spooner to the club that has played finals for the past eight successive seasons.
St Kilda's interest in trading Stanley fits its plan in recent years of trading experienced players to bring in more early draft picks.
The Saints had been linked with Cameron O'Shea from Port Adelaide in trade talks as the Power rummaged for draft picks to sweeten the offer for Paddy Ryder. But while the Saints were keen on the player, they were more interested in retaining draft picks - Port had wanted pick 22 from St Kilda - and bringing more picks in than trading their picks for players.
The Saints remain an interested observer in developments at Greater Western Sydney, and in particular with the Tom Boyd-Ryan Griffen stand-off, as well as Kristian Jaksch's likely move to Carlton on Wednesday.
Depending on how matters pan out there, if GWS ends up with picks four and seven they would look to bundle the two picks together and offer them to St Kilda for pick one. The Saints would be likely to do that deal.
