Saints confident on Smith

ST KILDA is confident it has the facilities and medical resources to restore new recruit Jesse Smith to full fitness for the 2010 season.

Smith, 23, officially became a Saint on Thursday night when they used their second NAB AFL Draft selection, No.60 overall, to pick up the former Kangaroo.

The talented defender has been riddled by injuries since the Roos drafted him in 2004, with persistent hamstring problems keeping him from playing senior football at all this year.

Citing frustration with North Melbourne's lack of facilities, Smith walked out of Arden Street after failing to reach a new home through trade week in October.

Now the Saints have offered him a fresh start, despite his brief pre-season training dalliance with Hawthorn, and are confident they have the remedy to his long-term body issues.

"We've got really strong support from our medical team that they think they can get Jesse up," St Kilda's general manager football and list management Matthew Drain told afl.com.au at the draft on Thursday night.

"We think our medical team from the past two years has been really strong with our injury rate so that's a challenge for them. If we can get him up, he's a top 10 pick."

Drain said the Saints had interviewed Smith last week and had put him through a medical test which left them keen to offer him a spot on their list if he remained available.

He also said they looked forward to the challenge of building the former Calder Cannon up to full strength for the first time in his AFL career.

"He'll be a project for us in getting him right," he said.

"Jesse has had a number of issues with injury over the last couple of years but he's a bona fide AFL talent.

"We had it in the back of our minds that if some of our key preference young players weren't there, Jesse would be a great get for us based on pure talent."