ID :
164398
Sun, 02/27/2011 - 12:00
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http://m.oananews.org//node/164398
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Saints hope to regain Koschitzke, Gardiner
St Kilda are hopeful they will regain ruck duo Michael Gardiner and Justin Koschitzke early in the AFL season as they steadily build to a full-strength lineup.
The Saints unveiled their new-look attack on Saturday night in the pre-season mismatch against Geelong, who were missing many of their best players.
St Kilda thrashed the Cats by 55 points and will now meet Essendon on Friday night in a cup semi-final.
Captain Nick Riewoldt, Sam Gilbert and Lenny Hayes all made successful returns against Geelong, while Steven Baker should come into the side against the Bombers.
Koschitzke (ankle) and Gardiner (knee) have been their two main injury concerns during the off-season, but Lyon said they were making progress.
"It's hard to work it out, but they're running - Kosi is running (on) Monday," Lyon said.
"He's had a couple of hiccups, at one stage potentially it seemed to be a lot worse, but we got out of jail and ... hopefully (he will return in) round three.
"Gardy is about the same - that operation, he went to Norway.
"He's certainly pain-free and really running and incredibly vibrant.
"He's an incredibly hard trainer, so once he gets the tick and he's pain-free and he works, he really gets to work - it happens pretty quickly for Michael."
The Saints have changed their forward line setup, no longer going with only Riewoldt and Koschitzke as their two tall targets.
They recruited Ryan Gamble from Geelong, while Gilbert will switch from defence and youngster Tom Lynch will also give them more height in attack.
"We've certainly constructed a taller front half, haven't we?" Lyon said.
"We'll be taller, we've acknowledged that, we want a bit more strikepower in the air - we're still working our way through that."
There was plenty of focus on Riewoldt and Gilbert on Saturday night after their prominent roles in the club's nude photo scandal during the off-season.
Lyon was asked how pleasing it was for them to return to the team in the wake of that saga and he made it clear his sole focus was the coming season.
"I don't want to be the best coach, I just want to coach the best players, so it's nice to get them back out there," he said.
The personnel news is also good for the Cats, despite fielding so many inexperienced youngsters against St Kilda.
Of the players who missed Saturday night's game, coach Chris Scott said only Cameron Ling (hamstring) and key forward James Podsiadly (hand) should be in doubt for round one.
Scott said Podsiadly was in a "race against time" to be ready for round one.
"If he's 50-50, we won't play him - it's a long season and he's an important player for us," said Scott, who added they had the same outlook for Ling.
The Saints unveiled their new-look attack on Saturday night in the pre-season mismatch against Geelong, who were missing many of their best players.
St Kilda thrashed the Cats by 55 points and will now meet Essendon on Friday night in a cup semi-final.
Captain Nick Riewoldt, Sam Gilbert and Lenny Hayes all made successful returns against Geelong, while Steven Baker should come into the side against the Bombers.
Koschitzke (ankle) and Gardiner (knee) have been their two main injury concerns during the off-season, but Lyon said they were making progress.
"It's hard to work it out, but they're running - Kosi is running (on) Monday," Lyon said.
"He's had a couple of hiccups, at one stage potentially it seemed to be a lot worse, but we got out of jail and ... hopefully (he will return in) round three.
"Gardy is about the same - that operation, he went to Norway.
"He's certainly pain-free and really running and incredibly vibrant.
"He's an incredibly hard trainer, so once he gets the tick and he's pain-free and he works, he really gets to work - it happens pretty quickly for Michael."
The Saints have changed their forward line setup, no longer going with only Riewoldt and Koschitzke as their two tall targets.
They recruited Ryan Gamble from Geelong, while Gilbert will switch from defence and youngster Tom Lynch will also give them more height in attack.
"We've certainly constructed a taller front half, haven't we?" Lyon said.
"We'll be taller, we've acknowledged that, we want a bit more strikepower in the air - we're still working our way through that."
There was plenty of focus on Riewoldt and Gilbert on Saturday night after their prominent roles in the club's nude photo scandal during the off-season.
Lyon was asked how pleasing it was for them to return to the team in the wake of that saga and he made it clear his sole focus was the coming season.
"I don't want to be the best coach, I just want to coach the best players, so it's nice to get them back out there," he said.
The personnel news is also good for the Cats, despite fielding so many inexperienced youngsters against St Kilda.
Of the players who missed Saturday night's game, coach Chris Scott said only Cameron Ling (hamstring) and key forward James Podsiadly (hand) should be in doubt for round one.
Scott said Podsiadly was in a "race against time" to be ready for round one.
"If he's 50-50, we won't play him - it's a long season and he's an important player for us," said Scott, who added they had the same outlook for Ling.
