Marcus Windhager will be sidelined for the short-term with a break in his left hand, however Assistant Coach Robert Harvey remains hopeful the young talent will be available come Round 1.

It’s an unfortunate stroke of luck for the inside midfielder, who injured his other hand in exceptionally similar circumstances during last season’s practice match against Essendon, also held at RSEA Park around the same time of year. 

“At this stage, it’s just a little break in his other hand (left) that he had last year, but we’re hopeful he’ll be Round 1,” Harvey told reporters post-game.

“It’s disappointing for him, but it’s nothing serious. He’s had a great summer so we’re looking forward to getting him back for Round 1.

“He’ll be able to run still and keep fit, so it’s just a minor setback.”

Even with Windhager out of action, St Kilda put together a comprehensive showing in front of a 5000-strong crowd at RSEA Park to run out 66-point victors over the visitors.

Max King (four goals), Tim Membrey (three) and Cooper Sharman (three) led the scoring for the Saints, Rowan Marshall and Jack Steele stood tall through the midfield alongside new on-ball additions Mattaes Phillipou and Hugo Garcia, while Riley Bonner was particularly sharp coming out of defence.

“Obviously playing at the ground we train at is beneficial, but it’s just good to see the boys look sharp,” Harvey said.

“We’ve been working on some stuff over summer, so you always like to see that first-up and we think we saw enough of that.

“(There was) a nice injection of new players into our team who all showed their wares, so I think after a long summer… it’s a good start.

“As a group, I thought our intensity and pressure to force them into giving it back to us was really good, and the forwards certainly played a part in that.

“It wasn’t perfect, we know we’ve got a lot of work to do with connection and we still made a mess of a few things today which is fine at this time of year, but we’re seeing some growth from our players.”

The Saints had four new faces featuring for the first time; Garcia and Bonner arguably the standouts, however with Liam Henry and Darcy Wilson leaving Saints fans salivating with what the future may hold.

“I think everyone likes seeing young players coming into your club and team, and they’re the future,” Harvey said of Wilson.

“He’s fitted in really well. He’s got a great attitude and he gets out what he puts in.

“To see him and Hugo Garcia come in and do some things for us - and Liam Henry from another club - I think that will excite the fans.”