Wilkie claims Saints best and fairest as Marshall sits out amid Geelong push
Cal Wilkie has claimed St Kilda's best and fairest while Rowan Marshall stayed away from the count as he pushes for a trade to Geelong.
Wilkie won the 2026 Trevor Barker Award, the club honour voted across the home-and-away season to find St Kilda's best player. Marshall, the Saints ruck — the tall specialist who contests ball-ups and boundary throw-ins — did not attend the event, and Wilkie was asked about the trade request when he appeared on SEN on the morning of October 6, according to the ABC.
Marshall has requested a trade away from St Kilda and wants to join Geelong. The Cats are now into their second straight year of chasing him, after a proposed move early in the 2025 trade period looked likely but did not get done.
St Kilda confirmed Marshall still polled strongly without being in the room, finishing with 137 votes in the Trevor Barker count, per St Kilda. It fits his recent record. He has finished in the top six in each of the past three years and has two top-three finishes to his name, according to the AFL. He also polled a career-best tally of Brownlow votes in 2024, the league medal for the fairest and best player across the competition.
The Saints are driving a tough bargain. That was the word from the AFL ahead of the trade period, which is the October window when clubs can swap players and draft picks. Geelong went into the period holding picks 13, 44 and 55, as reported by the Herald Sun. Picks are selections in the national draft, and they are often used as currency in trades.
Marshall spoke to Geelong while weighing his options before the best and fairest, the AFL reported in late September 2025. His absence from the Saints' night underlines how far this has moved.
There was movement elsewhere on October 6. Zach Merrett won Essendon's best and fairest in a wooden-spoon season — last place on the ladder — before joining Hawthorn. Collingwood had also held discussions with Jayden Short about a move.
What makes this stand out for Saints fans is the timing. The club has just crowned its captain as its best player, but the conversation has shifted straight to whether it can keep its first-choice ruck. For Geelong supporters, the question is simpler. The club wants Marshall, and it has done so for two years running.
St Kilda is yet to comment publicly on a deal. The trade period will decide if Marshall gets to the Cats or stays at Moorabbin.
