Star Saint's AFL return a worry for Lions

Star St Kilda veteran Nick Riewoldt will make a welcome return from injury when the Saints take on Brisbane at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Nick Riewoldt of the Saints

Star St Kilda veteran Nick Riewoldt will make a return from injury when the Saints take on Brisbane. (AAP)

Tempting as it may be, St Kilda will resist the urge to park Nick Riewoldt at full-forward against Brisbane and see if history repeats.

Riewoldt was awarded three Brownlow votes for the 26-disposal, 21-mark effort he put forth in the Saints' 58-point thumping of the Lions in round 21 last year.

While the Saints would be delighted if he can repeat the dose at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, they're not counting on it.

"Last year he was pretty handy up forward but we'd still expect to see him in the midfield and a bit up forward (this time)," St Kilda assistant coach Adam Kingsley told AAP.

"How we want to play and how we want to structure up ... there's times that we're too tall up forward so Nick needs to play on the wing.

"But he can flip between forward and wing and cause some headaches for the opposition from either position."

Saints fans are happy he's available at all after he appeared to suffer a season-ending knee injury in the round one loss to Melbourne.

"You expect the worst but hope for the best and fortunately for us he's back," Kingsley said.

"He trained really well on Thursday so we'd expect him to be right up and running."

Under Chris Fagan the Lions are certainly a different proposition to the hapless rabble that managed just three wins last season on their way to a 17th-placed finish.

Kingsley has great respect for a Brisbane midfield that helped them to a win over Gold Coast and saw them hold a late lead against Essendon.

After finishing ninth last year, the Saints were a fashionable tip to push further up the ladder this season, but find themselves in 14th spot after losses to the Demons and West Coast.

"Under extreme pressure we've gone back into our shells a bit too much," Kingsley said.

"We've had opportunities to put some real scoreboard pressure on and we haven't really been as aggressive as we have needed to be.

"That's certainly an area that we need to continue to improve."


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Source: AAP



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