ST KILDA'S American ruckman Jason Holmes is preparing to face off with the man who inspired him to have a crack at Australian football.

Holmes joined his teammates to travel to Perth on Friday morning where he'll take up his position as the Saints No.1 ruckman against West Coast superstar Nic Naitanui on Saturday night. 

"It's going to be exciting isn't it? I think (they're) probably the two best athletes with respect to vertical leap," coach Alan Richardson said. 

"It'll be a bit of a jump-fest."

Highlights of Naitanui provided Holmes with his first glimpse of the code; now he'll be confronting his hero in the middle of Domain Stadium.

"That was the package that the AFL scout delivered over there, 'Nic Nat' taking a massive mark," Richardson said. 

"He's publicly made the call that that was what first pricked his interest to our game, so I think he is excited, yeah. "

Tom Hickey has been left out of the Saints side, with Holmes given priority. 

Richardson said Josh Bruce would play second ruck. 

While the Saints' focus is on this weekend's game, Richardson will switch focus to list management from Monday.

He said he was confident defender Sam Fisher, 33, will play on. 

Having earned a final-round recall, midfielder Farren Ray will be playing for his St Kilda career. 

"Faz has been a really good player for a long time," Richardson said. 

"Our recruiting guys will give us an understanding of what's out there and what we're likely to bring in. 

"It's pretty clear that he hasn't played a lot of footy this year, but we still think he's got some footy in him.

"We think it's more likely going to be with us but we'll just have to sit down with he and his manager and work through that."