St Kilda’s gang of young guns faces its toughest challenge yet with the injury hit Saints taking on top of the table Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium on Friday night. 

The Saints have been hit by a slew of injuries, particularly to taller players and that will pose a test when trying to cover the likes of Buddy Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and David Hale.

Many of the injuries have come as a result of players putting their body on the line rather than soft tissue injuries. Rhys Stanley landed heavily on his shoulder against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba and broke his collarbone. He will have surgery this week and is out for the rest of the season.

Tom Simpkin had surgery on Monday to release pressure on muscles in his lower leg. He will join Stanley on the sidelines for the rest of the year, as will Arryn Siposs who will go in for surgery on his shoulder.

All three are expected to be back for the start of pre-season training. The Saints come up against a Hawthorn side smarting from a shock loss to Richmond and their absence, along with defenders Sam Gilbert, James Gwilt, Sam Fisher and Jackson Ferguson, will mean the Saints will have to display all of the fighting qualities that have been a hallmark of almost all their matches this season.

St Kilda Head Coach, Scott Watters, sees it as yet another opportunity for the developing players to test themselves against the best. 

“Injuries present challenges but you always have a choice as to how you respond to any situation. We’re finding out about our group. Last week I watched Jimmy Webster play well after almost being subbed off early in the game after a heavy knock. I saw the competitive side of Josh Saunders really emerge and David Armitage showed great leadership. There will be challenges on Friday but I’ll back our younger players to bring effort and I’ll continue to expose them. Inch by inch they’ll work their way through,” Watters said.

The round 20 match against Hawthorn is a home game for the Saints with the first bounce at 7:50pm.