The severity of the WADA sanctions has taken St Kilda by surprise, but the Saints still have a long-term view regarding recruit Jake Carlisle according to St Kilda coach Alan Richardson.

Whilst the key defender won’t feature this season, Richardson sees the 24-year-old as a key fixture in St Kilda’s pursuit of a second premiership.

Carlisle was one of 34 current and former Essendon players to be banned from the game for 12 months, following the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s verdict on Tuesday morning, in what is arguably the biggest controversy in Australian sporting history.

Despite the harsh reality that the Saints will be without their prized off-season acquisition for the entire 2016 campaign, Richardson is confident Carlisle can still make a significant contribution to the club in the future, when he returns for pre-season training in November.

“The reality is Jake was traded to be a really strong player, certainly in the short term but absolutely the foremost was that he was going to be a strong player when we were a really strong team, given his age and the length of his contract. So that doesn’t change from our point of view,” Richardson told 3AW’s Sports Today on Wednesday night.

“It was a bit of a shock; I think most people have said that, whether they’re a club like ours that have had a player traded to their club or the Bombers.

“There was certainly some reality that the guys might miss a bit of footy, but certainly the whole season was a bit of a whack, it was a bit surprising. But that will give someone else an opportunity.”

Devastated, shattered and frustrated were three words Richardson used to describe how Carlisle was feeling in the wake of the CAS findings on Tuesday morning.

But despite the brutal setback, Richardson said the club’s marquee recruit was overwhelmed with the support he has received from the entire St Kilda family.

“I initially spoke on the phone and then I caught up with him. He was devastated, he’s a young guy that has moved clubs, he hasn’t played for us yet, he wants to play footy,” Richardson said.

“No different to any player, he’s gone from being incredibly frustrated and devastated to being somewhat humbled by the support he’s got from the St Kilda family – our fans, our players, our staff.

“He’s one of us now; we want to make sure we do what we can. The frustration is we can’t do as much as we want because of the rules, we know that now and we’ll work through that.”