St Kilda will be conservative at selection resting up to seven AFL grand final players for the NAB Cup opener next Friday night against Collingwood.

Lenny Hayes, Justin Koschitzke, Nick Dal Santo, Jason Gram, Sean Dempster and Andrew McQualter - sat out the Saints' intraclub game on Friday night at Moorabbin.

While coach Ross Lyon is keen for his team to be competitive against the Magpies, the Saints will take no risks coming off a block of heavy training.

It will be a massive NAB Cup game, with former Saints captain Luke Ball set to make his debut for the Magpies.

"We've been in a heavy training load, we pushed them pretty hard and 'Dal' has a bit of a rolled ankle, a bit sore, 'Kosi' a bit of a hip," Lyon said.

"They were really keen to play, we just took a no-risk policy.

"(It's) unlikely that if they missed that, they'd play - (it's) what you see out here, Kosi may, Dal may, but we'll go down the conservative route.

"It (next Friday) is about attitude and commitment and just play your role, play some Saints footy."

Lyon again denied rumours that Hayes has a leg stress fracture, saying the star midfielder trained well earlier on Friday.

"Lenny had a bit of a tight calf ... he did an hour and 10 (minutes) today of full footy.

"At a pinch, if it was an AFL game, he'd play next week, so he's legitimately fine.

"He certainly hasn't had a stress fracture." The Saints played 16-a-side, with a young team of "possibles" against the "probables" in front of about 4000 fans.

Captain Nick Riewoldt kicked six goals and while it was against young opponents, it was also the first time since Lyon became coach in 2007 that the key forward has been ready so early in the pre-season.

"It's pretty ominous that he's going to be in pretty good nick," Lyon said.

Irish recruit Tommy Walsh is quickly becoming a cult figure among Saints fans, attracting a big cheer from the crowd when he had his first kick.

But the cheers immediately turned to groans when he turned the ball over, emphasising the challenge for the Gaelic football star learning the Australian game.

The Saints might use him as a substitute during the NAB Cup.

"If we think it's the best for him, not just a marketing exercise, we'll play him," Lyon said.

"But if we think it could hinder him and whack his confidence around, we won't play him."

Former Fremantle onballer Brett Peake impressed as he tries to break into the Saints seniors and he should be a definite selection for next week.

Lyon felt his men were in "really good nick" and said it was vital that they start the season strongly .

"We've learnt you've got to bank the wins early and it's hard coming home late, we've learnt some lessons there," he said.

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