ST KILDA has held discussions with the AFL about playing games on the Gold Coast if the Kangaroos reject the league's bid for a permanent relocation.
The Saints have told AFL officials, including chief executive Andrew Demetriou and his offsider Gillon McLachlan, that they would be willing to play three or four games at Carrara from 2009 and until the league has a team permanently based on the Gold Coast.
But sources said that the Saints would only entertain playing games at Carrara — two or three most likely, but four would not be out of the question — on the proviso that they did not have to travel more than six times in the course of a 22-game season.
Their proposal is for a mix of home-and-away games at Carrara.
St Kilda is mindful that it has been drawn to play outside of Victoria six times in 2008 and does not want that number to increase. The Saints view the Gold Coast as an opportunity to get a better fixture and to maximise their strong supporter base in south-east Queensland.
Sources said the AFL was "very positive" about the prospect of St Kilda filling the breach, if the Kangaroos reject the massive financial and draft incentives and opt to remain a wholly Melbourne-based club.
The Saints envisaged playing games at Carrara until the AFL had a team permanently based there.
St Kilda's Gold Coast proposal follows a similar overture from Collingwood, which was also hoping to play games at Carrara while minimising its interstate travel to other states, and capitalising on the Kangaroos' reluctance to uproot themselves and compromise their identity.
It is understood that the Saints are interested in "back-to-back" games over a week, allowing the team to stay in the region for several days while supporters could spend a week in south-east Queensland and see the team play twice.
St Kilda's practical advantage over Collingwood is that the Magpies are the most requested "away" team, due to their drawing power, and Victorian clubs are loath to play home games against Collingwood outside of Victoria when they are guaranteed an excellent return in Melbourne.
St Kilda also has the game's highest profile ex-Gold Coaster in Nick Riewoldt, who was recruited from the powerhouse club of Southport, the same club that produced his teammate Sam Gilbert.
In 2008, the Saints have drawn the Kangaroos at Carrara and will also play the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
They visit Perth twice, play Port Adelaide away and the Swans in Sydney — a schedule that they believe would be much improved if half of those six interstate trips were at the Gold Coast, a region in which they wish to develop a greater presence.
The Gold Coast proposal follows the club's momentous decision to leave Moorabbin and establish Frankston as its new administrative and training base from 2009.
The club enjoyed a fruitful period of playing home games in Launceston before abandoning Tasmania — and leaving Hawthorn as the only club with a base in that state — in 2006.
St Kilda chief executive Archie Fraser would not comment on the issue last night.
