St Kilda coach Ross Lyon insisted he had no regrets over his refusal to trade Luke Ball to Collingwood even after the Magpies secured the former Saints' skipper for nothing after selecting him in Thursday night's AFL national draft.

After weeks of speculation as to whether the best experienced player on offer in this year's draft would last until the Magpies had their first selection at pick 30, Ball was there ready and waiting when the Pies finally got to call out their first selection of the night much to the jubilation of Collingwood recruiting manager Derek Hine.

"It's not often at pick 30 you can bring in an All-Australian player (in 2005), a club captain and a player who has played finals and played well in a grand final (this season) so it's really pleasing," Hine said.

The Pies had tried to secure Ball during the trade period but the Saints refused to deal when the Pies did not offer a first round pick or sufficient quality players to the Saints in return.

As a result Ball - who declared all along that he only wanted to play with the Magpies after leaving the Saints after growing frustrated at Lyon's use of him this season when he was continually rotated on and off the bench - was forced to take his chances in the draft.

And while other clubs threatened to select him - with Melbourne, Essendon, Brisbane and Port Adelaide all linked to him before ultimately settling on young players with the picks they had before the Pies - Collingwood ultimately grabbed the 25-year-old with their second round draft pick, which they had offered to the Saints for Ball during the October trade period.

But while the Saints got nothing in return for the player the selected at pick two in the 2001 national draft, Lyon was unrepentant when asked after the draft about the merits of the Saints' decision to let the 142-game veteran leave for nothing.

"We certainly have no regrets and we wish Luke all the best personally," Lyon said.

"At the end of the day now we all move on and focus on our own resources and players and we are all about mounting our campaign for 2010."

Hine said Ball, who is expected to sign a three year deal with the Pies, would complement the club's exciting young midfield and would help the likes of last year's talented midfield draftees Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams enormously with his experience and ability to win the hard ball.

"It was about protecting them (Sidebottom and Beams) - that was a real priority now that Shane O'Bree is getting towards the end of his career and Luke will certainly do that,' Hine said.