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Trade talk: The tough decision plaguing Tom De Koning
Jaiden Sciberras • June 15th, 2025 5:51 pm
Stay at the struggling Blues, or join the drowning Saints?
Tom De Koning certainly has a difficult decision to make, with all indications suggesting the star ruckman will entertain a move to St Kilda.
With the significant contract being offered to the 25-year-old, it may be a no-brainer to jump ship and secure financial freedom, however with the current state of the Saints’ list, will a move to Moorabbin sacrifice any chance of success within the AFL?
As the final decision looms large, AFL Hall of Famer Luke Hodge offered his two cents, passing on notable advice to the Carlton ruckman.
“If he came to me and said, ‘what should I do?' The $1m at Carlton, the pressure that comes with Carlton… I’d say go to St Kilda, Hodge told SEN Crunch Time.
“Carlton are up, they’re down, the pressure that comes onto that football club… if they are not winning, you are in all sorts.
“Whereas St Kilda, I don’t think there will be as much pressure, only because the expectation from external isn’t as high.
“If he came to me and said that that is $500,000 per year, it could be $700,000 a year, for nine years… four million dollars, I’d be saying off you go.
“You can do a bit with four million dollars.
“That would be my advice. If you are getting a contract where you sit back and go, ‘$1.7 million for however long’, I’d say you’d be crazy to set up yourself, your family, not to take that.”
While Hodge’s viewpoint remained consistent, West Coast Eagles premiership coach Adam Simpson sat on the other side of the coin, suggesting that the money may not be worth the potential career sacrifice.
Simpson: “I’m probably the other way.
“I’ve been looking at the club of St Kilda as a whole. If it’s another five years of what they are doing for the last five years, it’s as much as the end.
“You go, ‘I’ll put up with this for five years but I’m walking away and living in the bush with my four million dollars.’
“Then there’s success. Who is closer to a flag – it has to be in his mind. Money is very important in his mind.”
Hodge: “Are you sold that Carlton are (closer)?
“Carlton are a better team at the moment, but if it’s Collingwood, or Hawthorn, or Brisbane where you’re sitting there going ‘I’m a chance at winning a flag next year…’
“I don’t see that at Carlton. Carlton have been up here, pushing, pushing, pushing for three years.
“(Patrick) Cripps is getting to the end, you’ve got (Charlie) Curnow who’s there, you’ve got (Harry) McKay…
“I don’t think Carlton are at that flag wining stage.”
Simpson: “I don’t think they’re at the flag winning stage.
“What I’m saying is the money is great, but you’ve got to weigh up everything in terms of the two clubs.
“The decision, if he is mature - which I think he is - has got to look at all of those things.
“Does he truly believe that Carlton is going to deliver around him? And then he looks at St Kilda, if you watched the game on Thursday night, 20,000 (in attendance), there is holes everywhere in that list.
“They are years away, that’s what you’d be thinking. Why would you want to do that? But you’re right, where are Carlton at?
“All I’m saying is, you’ve got to weigh up more than just the cash. You’ve got to really think about success. Where am I going to get my success.”
Hodge: “Do you think he’s having a pretty cruisy, stress-free time at the moment, considering Carlton are 11th on the ladder, things aren’t going well, he’s getting pressure put on him and he hasn’t even signed the long-term deal?
“He’ll be sitting there going, ‘things aren’t rosy here at the moment, maybe I’ll go across.’ You’re spot on, Carlton are a big club, you’re going to have big crowds…
“Be the start of something at St Kilda. St Kilda have not won a flag since ‘66. Be a part of that, because if you stay there at Carlton, you go on to win a premiership, Cripps is getting all the kudos, so is Curnow.
“Come across, be the face of the club, set standards that Crippa taught you to at Carlton, and implement something at St Kilda that they haven’t been able to do since ‘66!”
