St Kilda stars Nick Riewoldt and Nick Dal Santo have both rejected lucrative offers from rival clubs reportedly double in value and signed to remain with the Saints for a further three years.
The 24-year-old Riewoldt, who was taken by the Saints with the No.1 selection in the 2000 National Draft, said he was finally pleased to put to bed any speculation over a possible return to his home state of Queensland.
"I think there was a little bit of interest but it was never seriously entertained because I was always keen to stay at the club and stay with my team-mates and hopefully achieve something down the track with them," Riewoldt told the media on Tuesday.
"It's a little bit of a distraction I suppose, it tends to be a bit of an obsession, I know (Chris) Judd and (Matthew) Pavlich are going through something pretty similar at the moment so to have it out of the way now and just be able to focus on the rest of the season and the next three years as well is a good feeling."
Dal Santo's stocks have continued to rise ever since his 2005 All-Australian season, a year in which he also finished third in the Brownlow medal.
The 23-year-old said he had never once wavered from his initial intention of remaining with the club after the playing group made a personal commitment to stay together several years ago.
"We've spoken about this five or six years ago that we'd like to stay together as long as we possibly could and if that means guys have to take salary cuts then so be it, I think that's just the reality of sticking to the same club and I think that's what we want to do at this stage," Dal Santo said.
The pair's manager Ricky Nixon revealed there were a number of clubs prepared to offer substantial increases to lure the star duo but ultimately both players were happy to sacrifice bigger pay packets in the hope of long-term success with the Saints.
"The hard thing for these sorts of players at the top level is how much they're worth isn't what you're going to get to play at a top four club and that's where St Kilda is probably ranked at the moment so that's always a difficult thing what the difference is," Nixon said.
"Generally revolves around how much less (they are willing to accept), I mean they probably accept what I'm putting up as how much they're worth in the marketplace but it's how much less to stay."
St. Kilda coach Ross Lyon said the signing of both players was a boost for the club heading into the future.
"No doubt it is a positive sign for the club and it's great for our supporters and clearly Nick's captain or one of the captains and the other, Nick Dal Santo, is in the leadership group so it's a great day for St Kilda," Lyon said.
"They're happy with it and they enjoy being at St Kilda and obviously it's self evident it’s a sign of confidence and the direction the football club is taking."