St Kilda is weighing up whether to bring back experienced defender Max Hudghton and key forward Justin Koschitzke for Saturday night's NAB Cup grand final in Adelaide.
The star pair missed the Saints' thrilling semi-final victory over Essendon last Friday night, after coming off with leg muscle tightness during the previous week's quarter-final win over Geelong in Canberra.
While both players are clearly in the Saints' best side and could do with another hit-out before the start of the season, the Saints also have to weigh up the risk of playing the injury-prone pair in what will be the highest-tempo game of the pre-season competition against the Crows when there will be a trophy at stake.
"We have to assess them but they are in strong contention to play," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said of Hudghton and Koschitzke.
However Lyon has made it clear that he will not risk injuries to key players - ahead of the Saints' season opener against Sydney on March 22 - just for the opportunity of lifting the NAB Cup.
"Our overriding objective is to come into round one fit and healthy and hopefully build some momentum into the season proper," he said.
"While NAB is a wonderful sponsor and we get to play on good grounds (during the pre-season competition) - it's not the real thing yet."
Hudghton and Koschitzke are two of St Kilda's most valuable players but also two of their most injury-prone.
Koschitzke has played just 97 games in seven seasons due to an array of different injuries over the years with last year being the first time since 2004 that he had managed more than 15 games in a season.
Hudghton, 31, managed just ten games last season after suffering five separate leg injuries and he never managed to play more than five games in succession.
Perhaps mindful of the fact the Saints are reluctant to pick a full strength team, Adelaide has been installed at $1.65 favourites for Saturday night's grand final while the Saints are at $2.15 on Victoria's TAB Sportsbet.
And while Lyon is reluctant to take any risks during the NAB Cup in terms of his senior players, he admits the Saints' performances so far in the competition - particularly with a second-string team at times - had impressed the club's fans.
"There has been some impetus building with membership (as a result of the NAB Cup)," Lyon said.
"We are a few thousand ahead (of this time last year) and it would be nice if a few more jump on board now that they see the (playing) list coming together and see some reasonable (form) from us and some changes in the way we play."
The Saints had 30,394 members last year - ranked ninth in the competition and fifth amongst the Victorian clubs - but that was a fall on the club record 32,327 members they enjoyed the previous season, on the back of preliminary final appearances in 2004 and 2005.