St Kilda will travel to Adelaide this weekend, potentially bolstered by the return of several key contributors across the backline and midfield ahead of the club’s maiden AFLW finals appearance.

Paige Trudgeon and Nicola Barr were late withdrawals from the final game of the home-and-away season after pulling up sore following the main session and subsequently failing fitness tests pre-game. Positively, both are tracking well and are likely to make the trip to face Adelaide on Sunday.

Inside midfielder Olivia Vesely will also press her case for selection after a prolonged stint on the sidelines due to injury. The 25-year-old last featured in Round 3 against West Coast.

Back-to-back Best and Fairest winner Jaimee Lambert has been cleared to play after being managed in the last quarter against the Bulldogs with calf tightness.

 “We’re optimistic about having a group of key, experienced players available again this week,” GM AFLW Jessie Mulholland said.

“The entire football department has shown great resilience as we’ve navigated a season impacted by several long-term injuries. Our focus remains on keeping our players in the best possible condition to perform at the standard required as we head into the finals series.”

All three players will need to pass fitness tests at Thursday’s main training session before being cleared for selection.

Meanwhile, Nicola Xenos is recovering well following knee surgery last week. The skilful forward’s 2025 campaign unfortunately came to an early end after sustaining an ACL injury late in the season.

INJURY LIST

Trudgeon | Ankle | Test

Barr | Foot | Test

Vesely | Calf | Test

Xenos | ACL | Season

Ott | Achilles | Season

Jakobsson | Leg | Season

McDonald | Leg | Season

Richards | Leg | Season

Fiedler | ACL | Inactive