Billy Longer thought he'd become a Hawk. Source: DAVID CROSLING / AAP
ST KILDA recruit Billy Longer admits he thought he was headed for Hawthorn.
Longer, 20, became a Saint after the Brisbane Lions agreed to swap him and pick 48 for selections 25 and 41.
It was not the outcome the emerging ruckman - originally taken by Brisbane at pick 8 in the 2011 national draft - expected two weeks ago.
"To be very blunt I thought it (a move to the Hawks) was going to get done," Longer said.
"But the way it has sort of panned out I couldn't be happier with where I am."
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Asked about the harsh nature of the trade period, Longer said: "It's very brutal ... (but) there's a bit of give and take."
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Longer said he considered St Kilda a good fit because of the departure of the club's No.1 ruckman Ben McEvoy to Hawthorn.
"It's a big thing with McEvoy leaving but there's still, me included, three developing ruckman, so I think it's a good position to be in because there's three of us fighting to make positions," Longer said.
"It's worked out pretty well for us."
St Kilda, who also secured Greater Western Sydney defender Josh Bruce in exchange for pick 48, boasts selections 3, 18 and 19, in next month's national draft.
"It's been an exciting period for the club the last week now that everything has come to fruition," Saints list manager Ameet Bains said.
"We've obviously had to be a bit aggressive and bold with a couple of our moves. But things have paid off.
"We're very excited about Billy and have three first-round draft picks."
The Saints remain interested in dumped Collingwood ruckman Darren Jolly who could still join the club as a delisted free agent.
"We've got dialogue going," Jolly's manager Paul Connors said. "How it turns out we'll wait and see."
Jolly, 32 next month, has already passed a medical with the Saints.
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Longer joined Sam Docherty (Carlton), Elliot Yeo (West Coast), Jared Polec (Port Adelaide) and Patrick Karnezis, who moved to Collingwood yesterday in a straight swap for Jackson Paine, as young Lion runaways.
Brisbane talent manager Rob Kerr said the club would be reviewing how it develops and looks after its young players after the exodus.
"We just move on now and think we have got a reasonably positive outcome of what might have been a fairly ugly situation," Kerr said.
"It's clearly not the ideal outcome ... we learn from it and obviously as a club we will look back and see what things we need to do better.
"I've said all along it's something the club as a whole has to own."
Brisbane midfielder Pearce Hanley yesterday hit out at his departing teammates, labelling them "mummy's boys" on Twitter.
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