ST KILDA has selected captain Nick Riewoldt for his first game of the pre-season.

Riewoldt, 26, has been named for the NAB Challenge match against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Friday afternoon – the side's last contest before round one.

Undergoing minor knee surgery in January, Riewoldt has not played an on-field role in the Saints' pre-season campaign.

St Kilda football manager Greg Hutchison said Riewoldt would be given plenty of game time against the Power.

"He needs to play a fair bit because he hasn’t played yet [in the pre-season]," he said. "He’s going to play 70-odd minutes.

"He’s in pretty good condition, there are no dramas there and he’ll probably get one break a quarter. We’ll manage him as we need to manage him."

The Saints have picked a near full-strength team for the game, including small forward Adam Schneider whose interrupted preparations have mostly been spent away from the main group.

The former Swan played his first game of competitive football last week and Hutchison said, like Riewoldt, he should be fine for round one.

"He had a hamstring injury about five weeks ago and he’s missed a couple of games we would have ideally like to have played him in," he said.

"He played 60 or 70 minutes last week against the Tigers and he’ll get about the same this week. He’s on track to be ready for round one."

Hutchison said the coaching staff was moulding its team for its season opener against the Sydney Swans and the time for resting key players was over.

"We’ve only got one practice match left and I think most clubs would be like us in wanting to get as many out there as they possibly can. We’ve certainly picked our best available team," he said.

Others in contention for a round one spot are recruits Tom Lynch and Zac Dawson, along with second-year midfielder Jack Steven who is still waiting for his debut.

Steven was named as an emergency for last year's qualifying and semi-finals.

"They’ve all had good pre-seasons," Hutchison said. "It’s going to be a difficult task for the boys when they sit down to pick the team.

"There will be some disappointed boys."

Dream Team watch – Nick Riewoldt is rated a $441,200 forward in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009