ST KILDA plans to employ one of the country's foremost martial arts practitioners to teach its players how to execute better tackles.

John Donehue is a black belt in Brazilian ju-jitsu and judo, a consultant to the Melbourne Storm as well as some AFL clubs, including the Kangaroos who once tried to secure his services exclusively.

For Saints coach Ross Lyon, whose side currently ranks 13th on the league's tackling ladder, it has been an area of focus. When St Kilda has tackled more often than its opponents this season it has won. Its round-three victory over the Western Bulldogs has been the only exception. Against Sydney, the Saints laid 59 tackles to 41.

"I brought some drills from the other place," Lyon said, referring to his time with the Swans.

"Going forward we want to try and introduce him (Donehue) … but we're trying to implement so much that we haven't nailed him. You always balance it up against the risk of injury. You can get simple corks out of them (the tackling sessions)."

The Kangaroos started working with Donehue around three years ago. His sessions are demanding, with players often complaining of soreness afterwards, which means clubs have to limit them during the season. Essendon and Melbourne have also used Donehue, who focuses as much on the mental approach to impeding an opponent as the desired technique.

Lyon said his club — cursed with soft-tissue injuries in recent seasons — was not far off setting up a strength and conditioning structure that he was happy with. This year the Saints employed Dr Ross Smith to investigate the matter.

St Kilda will resist the temptation to reintroduce full-back Max Hudghton to the seniors after one outing in the VFL since he recovered from a quadriceps injury.

"Clearly we can't afford to lose him again," Lyon said. "Everyone's just working together to make sure that we're doing everything … to eradicate what we're experiencing now (with injury recurrence) and have experienced under Grant (Thomas), which obviously hurt him at critical times as well."

Ruckman Matthew Clarke was a chance to return from a calf injury.