CHAD CORNES, arguably Port Adelaide's most important player, will miss at least three matches with a broken finger in his right hand.

He will have surgery, probably tomorrow. The injury will rule him out of playing for The Dream Team against Victoria in the Hall of Fame tribute game at the MCG on May 10.

Reminiscent of a few years ago when Cornes went back on the field with a punctured lung, he received the injury only eight minutes into the first quarter. He resumed in the forward line after quarter-time and played a significant role in Port's 21-point win over an extremely disappointing St Kilda.

While the win has raised Port's standing after a disappointing 0-4 start, further doubt has been cast over the Saints as they go 3-3 and struggle to stay in the eight.

Port coach Mark Williams praised Cornes for his willingness to go back on despite the injury. The finger was severely twisted and bent sideways.

"Port Adelaide was thrilled to win against a quality side. To keep their score down pretty well, and coming back from Perth — you know a lot of people thinking that was going to have a big effect on us and run us over in the last quarter — we got a lot of confidence out of that," Williams said.

"They tried to surround our stoppages and I thought we handled it pretty well and played it tough."