St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has said he's prepared to 'take the heat' for the recruitment of former North Melbourne defender Jesse Smith, who's looking to turn his career around after five injury-riddled seasons at Arden Street.

Lyon revealed the club's preference would have been to take a talented youngster in Smith's stead at last Thursday's AFL national draft, but the Saints recruiting staff felt there were none left.

"What happened is that at pick 60 I turned around and said 'who are we taking at pick 60?'," said Lyon.

"They said there's no-one there that we want to take, we want to take Jesse Smith."

"We went through the recruiters individually, John Peake, John Beveridge and Matthew Drain and they were unanimous and united in their decision that, as a recruiting department, they wanted to take Jesse Smith."

"I said, 'I will back your decision in' but, on balance, it was a collective decision and we'll all be judged, all of us, in the fullness of time."

Lyon said he believes that Smith, whose senior career at North was restricted by chronic ankle and soft tissue injuries to just 27 AFL matches in five years, has plenty to offer at the tender age of 23.

"Jesse wouldn't have nominated for the draft, our conditioning team wouldn't have ticked him off and we wouldn't have picked him if we didn't think that was the likely outcome," said Lyon.

"But it's certainly not guaranteed."

"Our people are really confident they can expand his range of movement and we think we're going to get there."

Smith dismissed reports that his injuries were so bad that he was considering retirement, but admitted to bouts of frustration after effectively spending two years in the football wilderness.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't frustrated for the last two years," said Smith.

"Football's been my life for so long so to miss out on so much football it can get you down and I wouldn't be human if I didn't get down on myself."

Smith said the timetable for his comeback remains open-ended, but he's confident the Saints have a good fix on how to address his issues.

"There's no pressure from that point of view, I've just got to do all the work and train really hard," he said.

"I'm just excited to get into the program because it's no fun training by yourself."

"I haven't had any soft tissue injuries on my left leg so it's just about getting the right work through my leg and through my core and through my glutes."

"If I can get those things right then there's no reason I shouldn't be able to get up and play."

Lyon said the acquisition of 10 18-year-olds at the 2008 national draft gave the Saints the freedom to be selective in '09.

Apart from Smith, the Saints picked up Western Australian youngster Nick Winmar at No.31, former Richmond ruckman Adam Pattison (64) and Will Johnson, a medium-sized defender from the club's VFL affiliate, Sandringham.

Johnson said he was shocked to be selected by the Saints, and turned off the telecast on draft night after a close friend, David Astbury, had been taken by the Tigers at No.35.

"My sister turned the television back on and there was my name on the screen," said Johnson.

"It was a big shock … I jumped through the roof and my parents were pretty emotional, but it was good."