St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt will need surgery for his serious hamstring injury with the superstar aiming to return for the back end of the AFL season.

Riewoldt will go under the knife on Monday after he suffered the complaint just before halftime in Friday night's win over Collingwood at Etihad Stadium.

He will be out of action until the second half of the year in a major blow to the Saints' ambitions of capturing their first flag since 1966.

But the damage is to the hamstring tendon, rather than a tear off the bone, which would have been a more severe injury.

"Following scans conducted yesterday that revealed a high grade muscle tendon injury, surgery will involve repair of the damaged tendon, but this does not involve the bone attachment," the Saints said.

"The clubs medical staff, together with medical experts, believes this to be the best option to allow Nick to get back to playing football in the later part of the season."

In a ferocious game, fellow Saints Lenny Hayes (broken nose) and Sam Fisher (concussion) were also casualties as the team pulled off a famous win.

There was no such joy for Adelaide on Sunday at the MCG against Melbourne, when they were left with no fit men on the bench.

Patrick Dangerfield (neck) went to hospital after three Demons wrapped him up in a heavy tackle, although the Crows are hopeful it is not a serious injury.

Trent Hentschel suffered internal bleeding in his knee and could be out of action for six weeks, while Kurt Tippett (ankle) and Nathan Bock (hamstring) were also sidelined.

Adelaide's plight led Melbourne coach Dean Bailey to renew the call for a substitute system during the regular season, an opinion backed by Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade after several injuries during his team's win over Hawthorn.

Hawks defender Josh Gibson went off with a hamstring injury early and Bulldogs defender Ryan Hargrave also hurt his neck in the first term and had to go to hospital for scans.

Jarrod Harbrow cleaned up Hawks midfielder Jordan Lewis in a horrific collision, but Lewis was able to return to the game in the final term.

"He's a tough cracker, that's why we love him as a player," Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said of Lewis.

"He'll nurse a sore scone for a couple of days, no doubt."

The 'Dogs also lost Jason Akermanis (hamstring) and Liam Picken (ankle).

The good news for Hawthorn is that key players Brad Sewell, Shaun Burgoyne and Clinton Young are all on the verge of returning from injury.

Like the Bulldogs, Fremantle paid a price for their big win on Sunday.

Nick Suban appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury when Geelong's Jimmy Bartel wrapped him up in a tackle late in the match.

The game was held up for several minutes as Suban was carried from the ground.

Other notable casualties from the weekend included star Brisbane midfielder Simon Black (calf) and Carlton onballer Brock McLean (hip).

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