St Kilda coach Ross Lyon wants spearhead Fraser Gehrig to play on in the AFL beyond this year.

The 31-year-old Gehrig has kicked 42 goals from 15 games in 2007, including a season-equalling best of six last week against Carlton in his 250th AFL game.

Lyon said the two-time Coleman medallist was in terrific form and big, strong key forwards were hard to find.

"At this stage we'd love him to go on," Lyon said.

"We'll sit down ... we'll leave (the talks) to the right time but as a senior coach you love your talented players playing and Fraser's no different."

While Lyon expressed a desire to have Gehrig - who reached the 100-goal mark in 2004 and had bags of 78 and 71 in the previous two years - return, the decision is complicated by the salary cap, veterans list and other players coming out of contract.

"He's a part, he's a piece of the puzzle that we have to slot together. He'd be a priority to work through but you still have to address those issues," Lyon said.

Last month, the Saints locked in Nick Riewoldt and Nick Dal Santo for a further three years.

Gehrig, along with Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke, have terrorised the Western Bulldogs in recent times, helping the Saints to four straight wins against Friday night's opponent at Telstra Dome.

Riewoldt has kicked nine goals from the previous two clashes, while the past four meetings have seen Gehrig average almost five goals a game.

"It's obvious that Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke, who will come back at this stage, and Fraser Gehrig are very talented tall forwards and on their day they worry everyone," Lyon said.

"But if we don't get enough supply and don't defend well, it doesn't matter really what they are doing.

"We really need to improve and that comes with consistency. We haven't put together a four-quarter performance yet."

Lyon's use of the words "at this stage" to describe Koschitzke's return raised eyebrows, especially given it was only due to suspension that he missed last week's win over Carlton.

With the club's only injured players Aaron Hamill, Michael Gardiner and Brendon Goddard, who are all out for the season, doubt on Koschitzke's selection may centre over which players to leave out of a team which has won five of its past six matches.

Those alongside Koschitzke on the outside pushing for selection include Brett Voss, who kicked six goals in the VFL last week, Clinton Jones and Raphael Clarke.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP