THE offer is on the table — come and get it. That was the message to St Kilda Football Club from the City of Casey yesterday.

The council, in Melbourne's fastest growing area, believes it is the underdog in its bid to woo the Saints from Moorabbin, but wants St Kilda supporters to know about the positives of a move to Casey Fields on the city's south-eastern fringe.

"It's a site that is available now," said City of Casey chief executive Mike Tyler.

"St Kilda have said that by the end of 2009 they want to be in world-class facilities. The only place they can do that is at Casey Fields. Everywhere else they face statutory processes and difficult negotiations."

Tyler said the council was "keen and very very willing" to host the Saints but would pursue other Victorian clubs if St Kilda stayed at Moorabbin. "We are very keen to host AFL footy and an AFL club and it doesn't have to be St Kilda," he said.

The Saints vowed to walk away from Moorabbin this week because of a dispute with the Kingston Council about whether poker machine licences could be relocated closer to Nepean Highway in a rebuilt home.

But Casey's Tyler said his council was open-minded about "gaming machines" and had identified newly developed areas with few gambling venues.

"In our growth areas we are not opposed to new gaming facilities," he said.

He said emerging areas such as Narre Warren South, Berwick and Cranbourne East did not have an oversupply of poker machines.

The council has also identified the Kangaroos and Carlton as potential relocation targets but had not held talks with either club.

"There is huge potential support here," Tyler said. "Our population is 230,000 people, we are the most populous council in Victoria and we are growing rapidly. There will be a further 120,000 people move in in the next 15 years."

He said there was strong support in the area for St Kilda because of the club's history at Waverley Park and "great hunger" for elite football.

The area is also a strong region for junior football and is host to St Kilda's VFL affiliate the Casey Scorpions, who said they supported a relocation.

Under the plan the council would offer the club a long-term lease on the site and the new facility would be funded by the AFL and the State Government.

Both parties have agreed to contribute towards the $6 million redevelopment of Moorabbin but the deal would need renegotiating if the location of the new home changed.

Tyler said the planned new facility would be similar in size and cost to that proposed for Moorabbin but easier to construct because of the open site.

It would be about 4500 square metres in size and have a gymnasium, 80-metre running track and 25-metre in-ground pool.

Other facilities would include offices for coaching and administrative staff, an auditorium for video and player education sessions and a new board room.

There would also be an indoor sports court, merchandising centre and 800 undercover seats facing the playing surface.

The council has had plans drawn up and has secured building approval to proceed if the Saints decided to relocate.

The council and State Government have already built 17 playing fields at the venue as well as a cycling and running track. Another 12 playing fields are to be added and 700 metres from the site a $37 million aquatic and fitness centre is being constructed.

Despite St Kilda chief executive Archie Fraser's vow to walk away from Moorabbin earlier this week and take the club to either Casey or Port Melbourne's home ground, neither of those alternative homes had been contacted by the club this week.

This aggravated Port Melbourne general manager Barry Kidd, who said his club was being used by the Saints in talks with Kingston.

"They've used it as a ploy to get their own way at Kingston," he said. "There's no substance to this idea whatsoever, I don't care where they go so long as they don't try to railroad us here. The chief executive has engaged his mouth before he has engaged his brain."

St Kilda president Rod Butterss said last night that he was hopeful that reopened negotiations with the City of Kingston could be successful and he would not negotiate with the City of Casey until talks with Moorabbin were exhausted.

"It wouldn't be appropriate to play them off against each other," he said.