NEITHER has an All-Australian jumper, but if St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt was overseeing selection both Sam Fisher and Max Hudghton will soon have one in their wardrobes.

The defensive duo are in the 40-man squad up for All-Australian selection – with the team to be announced on Monday night – and their skipper couldn’t sing their praises more highly when asked of their value to the Saints in 2008.

St Kilda’s defence was a key to its superb 34-point semi-final win over Collingwood on Saturday night, with its back half shutting down numerous Magpie attacks.

Riewoldt lauded one of his team's best defensive efforts of the season, but was equally positive when asked about the contribution of Fisher and Hudghton.

“Sam Fisher’s obviously had a terrific year and been one of our most consistent performers and has been for sort of two or three years now,” Riewoldt said at St Kilda’s recovery session on Sunday.

“I’d certainly be surprised if he didn’t make [the All-Australian side].”

Hudghton is one of those players all sides love to have. Somewhat unfashionable in comparison to the modern-day footballer, Riewoldt said the St Kilda full-back was rarely beaten and deserved recognition for his solid year deep in defence.

“Max, every year I can’t believe he’s never been there before [the All-Australian side],” he said.

“He’s one of our most valuable and reliable players. Every week he gets the biggest job and gets it done so it’d be a fitting reward for Max to see him get in.”

While individual awards would be appreciated, they will count for little should St Kilda's defence prove brittle against arguably the most potent attack in the AFL.

This week the Saints take on the might of 'Buddy' Franklin-led Hawthorn and Ross Lyon’s back six will need to perform at least as well as they did against Collingwood to have any chance of progressing to the biggest game of the year.

“They’ve [Hawthorn] got a couple of handy players up in the forward line so it’d be nice if we could replicate that this week,” Riewoldt said.

“Maxy’s a very reliable player for us, you know what you’re going to get from him week in, week out,” Riewoldt said.

“Buddy’s obviously a superstar, so whoever gets the job’s going to have their work cut out, but we’ll address that during the week and prepare well.”