ST KILDA'S Nathan Wright is set to miss the club's round one clash with Greater Western Sydney after suffering a suspected thigh strain in Thursday night's NAB Challenge loss to Hawthorn.
It wasn't the only injury concern for the Saints in the 106-point thrashing, with veteran midfielder Leigh Montagna also substituted out of the game with a knee injury.
The club will have both players scanned on Friday to assess the damage, and although confident Montagna will be fit to face the Giants they are less hopeful on Wright, who was set for a more prominent role in his third season.
"'Wrighty' had a tough night. He got stood on and came off the ground with some bruising on the foot. He went back out and got pushed as he was kicking as it looks like he might have done something to his thigh and adductor region," Saints coach Alan Richardson said after the game.
"[Montagna] gave his knee a tweak, so we'll scan that in the morning. We're very optimistic. The doctors are pretty confident that 'Joey' (Montagna) should be OK, so time will tell.
"Wright looks unlikely now [for round one]. He'd need a bit of luck with the scan but their early diagnosis is that he's given it a fair old tweak and done a bit of damage, but we'll know a bit more in the morning."
Richardson expects experienced options Jarryn Geary, Shane Savage and David Armitage to be available for round one, but that second-year midfielder Jack Billings was unlikely to be picked for the senior team after his hamstring strain.
Although Richardson acknowledged the task his youthful squad faced against a Hawthorn outfit brimming with premiership experience, the coach was unhappy with how it played out.
"We need to learn from it," he said.
"It was a disappointing performance. We got beaten really, really convincingly in the contest. They made us look like kids at times, the way they brushed us off when we tried to tackle and the way they applied pressure to us."
It was the Hawks' intensity which pleased stand-in coach Brendon Bolton the most, satisfied by the reigning premiers' tackling and ability to force turnovers in their attacking half of the ground.
"We asked for a raise and it's a building block towards round one, and we were really pleased with the output," Bolton said after the game.
The Hawks now have a two-and-a-half week break before their first game of the home and away season against Geelong on Easter Monday, and Bolton said the club's driven playing group would see them maintain their fierce approach.
"We're fortunate we've got a lot of experienced players who understand how to train when there's a gap between games," Bolton said.
"We play a lot of match simulation drills through all of our training and I think that will continue."
Aside from the familiar faces of the Hawks' back-to-back premiership wins, it was a couple of youngsters who caught the eye on Thursday night for the club.
Recruit Jono O'Rourke gathered 19 disposals and was especially classy early, while James Sicily was substituted into the game in the second half and immediately showed some spark near goal.
Bolton said O'Rourke had done his claims for a round one berth no harm.
"He's come into a new system and is holding his own. We're really pleased more so with how much he wants to learn and buy into what we're doing," Bolton said.
"He asks a lot of questions at training. He didn't just come in and go quiet and sit in the background. He's got on the front foot, asked questions and is wanting to learn so he's making some steps forward."
