St Kilda has until the conclusion of the NAB Challenge series to nominate a rookie to replace Jake Carlisle on the senior list for the 2016 season.

And it is a decision Alan Richardson and the football department will not be rushing.

With Carlisle serving a 12-month suspension for his involvement in the Essendon supplement saga, the Saints need to upgrade a rookie before round one.

Richardson indicated that the club would wait until the completion of the pre-season to determine whether injury would influence the Saints’ decision.

The St Kilda coach said the club had a few quality candidates, with ruckman Jason Holmes proving his value in the last few rounds of last season, Josh Saunders having senior experience previously and Nick O’Kearney impressing during his maiden pre-season.

“We don’t have to do it (straight away), there is a deadline on this opportunity - it’s at the end of the NAB Challenge. You would be silly to do something early,” Richardson told 3AW’s Sports Today on Wednesday night.

“If we lose a ruckman in that period then clearly ‘Holmesy’ will become an option for us – he played some pretty good footy for us in the last three weeks.

“Saunders has played some pretty good footy for us. He finds himself as a rookie and if we were to lose a bit of run through the midfield then he’s one.

“O’Kearney’s an All-Australian that we got in this year’s rookie draft; he’s a kid that’s been really impressive.

“So we’ll just wait and see and we’ll make that call as we get closer to that date.”