St Kilda has surprised by naming veteran defender Max Hudghton for Saturday night's NAB Cup grand final against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.

Hudghton has a history of leg injuries and limped off during the Saints' quarter-final win over Geelong in Canberra a fortnight ago.

The Saints insisted at the time that Hudghton - who suffered two thigh injuries as well as injuries to his quad, groin and hamstring last season - had not re-injured his hamstring and had only come off because of muscle tightness in his leg.

But the 31-year-old veteran of 204 games - who could manage just 10 games and no more than five in a row last season due to his constant injuries - barely trained at Moorabbin on Tuesday before being named at full-back to face the Crows.

This is despite Saints coach Ross Lyon insisting during the pre-season that he would take no risks with the club's most senior players ahead of the season opener against Sydney on March 22.

While it remains to be seen whether Hudghton will take his place in the Saints' final line-up - with St Kilda naming a squad of 30 on Thursday in contrast to the Crows who named their final 26-man line-up - the Saints' other big guns are all set to play.

Key forward Justin Koschitzke and key defender Sam Fisher are back after being rested from last week's semi-final win over Essendon while skipper Nick Riewoldt - who played his first game of the pre-season against the Bombers last week - was named at centre-half-forward.

Tough midfielder Luke Ball, who like Riewoldt made his return against the Bombers last week, was also named and is expected to see more game time after sitting out the first half of his comeback game last week.

The Crows made just one change to the team which downed Hawthorn in last week's semi-final at AAMI Stadium with Bryce Campbell replacing James Sellar, who was dropped.