The 28 year-old will be the favourite to take out his fourth Trevor Barker Award at the club’s best and fairest this year and is seen by many at the club as the Saints’ spiritual leader. The Age understands that Steven was keen on knowing the direction of the club during his recent exit interview, but that he’s shown no signs of wanting to leave. Alan Richardson confirmed that on AFL360 on Monday night. "As a leader that cares about what we're doing and was frustrated at the year we had on the back of a couple of years heading the right way ... he just wanted to know what (the future) looks like," Richardson said. "That had nothing to do with 'give us a bit more information so I can make a decision about whether I'm staying'.

"This was 'can you give us a bit more detail on what it looks like going forward - I'm in and I'm going to drive it.'" He said the Cats would hve been "irresponsible" not to ask the question. "No, we're really comfortable that Jack's not only staying with us but a really important part of driving what we're doing. "We're going to be aggressive and I imagine the Cats will, too - any team that is not where they want to be are going to be aggressive. Steven has been courted by Geelong in the past. Credit:AAP

"But Jack is a key part of what we're doing." Geelong coach Chris Scott told AFL360 list managers and managers were always in conversation. "I think it's very misleading to say that we're making a play for Jack Steven ... that's not true," Scott said. "Managers and list managers have conversations at various times through the year but they would ask about hundreds of players. "If there's some validity to (reports) of that question being asked (about Steven) I'm assuming it was answered pretty quickly (no) and that's that."

Cats CEO Brian Cook candidly conceded on Monday that his football department may have to rethink its recruiting strategy moving forward. “There’s no doubt about that. The analysis has begun for us since the weekend.” Cook said on SEN. “It’s probably time for a really good look at what we’re doing, right through into our playing list and our style. “You’ve got to make a decision at some stage as to whether you really go all in to win a premiership or try to stick around eighth. We have to talk about those things. “We have to decide whether we continue to go through both, or whether we 'err' on one side [or] we go back to simply drafting kids."

Geelong has been an admirer of Steven for several years now. Loading The surf coast local met with the Cats at the end of 2014 before turning his back on free agency to sign a five-year contract to remain at St Kilda. Steven is a crucial figure for the next period at the Saints. Not only is he arguably their best player but he’s also significant because he will help attract other players to the club.

The Saints will look to be aggressive in the upcoming trade period. As reported by The Age last week, they have joined the race with Hawthorn, Essendon and Carlton to attempt to lure Dylan Shiel from Greater Western Sydney, and the club still remains poised to land contracted Sydney Swan Dan Hannebery. Steven would be the perfect inclusion into Chris Scott’s side next year, particularly if they lost gun first year recruit Tim Kelly who is open to a move back home to Western Australia. But even if the Saints did entertain a trade for Steven at all, the other challenging part of the equation would be Geelong trading for him. The Cats’ first round selection – currently pick 12 – wouldn’t go near satisfying a trade for a player of Steven’s calibre.