ST KILDA is confident that off-season recruit Jake Carlisle is in good spirits and coping as well as could be expected with his 12-month ban for an anti-doping violation.

Carlisle was one of 34 past and present Essendon players suspended for his role in the Bombers' 2012 supplements program that has rattled the club over the past three years.

The versatile defender was traded to the Saints at the end of the 2015 season in a complicated deal between Essendon, St Kilda and the Sydney Swans, but the ban has kept him away from his new home and teammates.

Saints' football manager Jamie Cox told SEN radio on Wednesday morning that he has been in "pretty infrequent and irregular" contact with the 24-year-old to keep tabs on his wellbeing.

"I've caught up with Jake (Carlisle) two to three times over the past four to five months, just to stay in contact and make sure he's going OK," he said.

"He had a minor hip procedure and he's come through the tail end of that, and he's doing some work with a building company, and I know he's really looking forward to getting back on board once things expire.

"He's been to most of our home games, if not all of our home games, and keeps in social contact with a lot of our players.

"He's going as well as you'd expect, but naturally can't wait to get back involved."

Cox also said that the club was still confident that another player recruited to the Saints in the off-season, injury-prone former Collingwood midfielder Nathan Freeman, could beat his hamstring issues.

Freeman was taken with pick 10 at the 2013 NAB AFL Draft, but failed to play a senior game at the Magpies because of a host of soft tissue problems, and asked for a move to the Saints at the end of last year.

The highly rated 20-year-old still hasn't played for his new club at senior level and was due to play in the VFL last week, but felt some tightness in his hamstring after training on Friday night.

Cox said the Saints wouldn't give up on Freeman despite his frustrating run.

"Nathan (Freeman) is a young man and we certainly had eyes wide open when he arrived," Cox said.

"He had another setback last week unfortunately, but we'll keep working through that stage of intervention when we can get him right.

"We certainly wouldn't have got Nathan if we didn't suspect he could have a long career, and we still believe that.

"Those setbacks could serve him well as long as we can get him strong and bullet-proof his body, which is absolutely the focus.

"If that takes all year then so be it, but at this stage we still think he can play some footy this year."