Dal Santo (back) and Gram (groin) were hurt during the Saints’ 24-point preliminary final win over the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.
“Both of those guys have pulled up really well,” Hayes said prior to St Kilda’s recovery session at Moorabbin on Sunday morning.
“Dal was just a little bit tight in his lower back. He had some work done and came back on and played the game out.
“Same with Grammy. I think he just overstretched a little bit and did the splits. He went to the bench, got a bit of work done, and then he played out the rest of the game.”
Hayes is confident the experience the Saints gained last year will stand them in good stead as they prepare to play in the their second grand final in a row.
And he says the players are desperate to make up for last year’s 12-point loss to Geelong in the 2009 decider.
“We’re a little more prepared for what’s in store for us, with things like the open training session and the parade,” Hayes said.
Nevertheless, St Kilda will go into the grand final as the underdog, because Collingwood was so good against Geelong on Friday night.
“They were really impressive,” Hayes said, when asked about the Magpies.
“The way they pressured the ball carrier and forced Geelong into turnovers - not many other sides have managed to do that in recent years.
“They’ve had a great season, they finished on top, and they’ll probably go into the game as unbackable favourites and deservedly so.
“But I think we can testify that anything can happen on the day. We’ll go in with a bit of confidence as well.”
