ST KILDA is set to give injury-plagued ruckman Michael Gardiner a new contract for 2008, despite the fact he will not play a game this year.

With another ruck-forward, Justin Koschitzke, set to be sidelined for up to three weeks with his latest hamstring injury, Gardiner's situation only added to the burden at Moorabbin, where the injury blight has hit hard.

Gardiner will have surgery on his left foot in the next few days.

While he had been expected to resume playing for Casey Scorpions on Sunday after battling an injury to his right foot, Gardiner has gone down with the same injury to the opposite foot.

Recruited from West Coast on a one-year deal after he fell out of favour with the Eagles, he has had two unsuccessful efforts at getting himself up to play football with Casey in the VFL, most recently in the past fortnight. Both have ended with him footsore and not ready to play, a fact revealed yesterday by coach Ross Lyon, who earlier in the day said that if Gardiner required surgery, the Saints would write off the season and prepare him for 2008.

"It leaves him behind the eight ball. If it is — and we'll find out in the next 72 hours — a legitimate setback, the option is for an operation to get him set for next year. If that's the case, we'll do that," Lyon said.

Asked if this meant Gardiner would definitely be at Moorabbin next year, Lyon said: "It's a one-year deal, but he'll definitely be here next year. Let's put it in black and white."

But St Kilda chief executive Archie Fraser said talks with Gardiner's management had not yet been initiated.

His 2007 contract was weighted heavily towards incentives rather than a big base fee, meaning he will not have been an expensive buy this year. A 2003 All-Australian, he has managed only 129 games in 11 seasons of AFL football.

Fraser said yesterday that the club wanted Gardiner to stay. "He's shown enough athletically, behaviour-wise and professionally, to suggest he can add value to the club and the team.

"If he makes that decision (to have surgery), we'd certainly back him by re-contracting him."

Lyon said Gardiner's problems were unusual. "He's got unique-shaped feet. All the weight goes through the second metatarsal rather than the first, and inflames his foot. The operation would be to relieve where the weight goes through, and we assume from that he'd be able to play AFL football.

"It's unfortunate because it's been his good foot."

Koschitzke's latest problem came during last Sunday's victory in Perth. While it is yet another setback for a player overly burdened with physical ailments, Lyon said the ruck-forward would persist. "All summer, we focused on the pre-season and just playing football. He still hasn't had a lot of continuous football. It's only 12 games. It'd be great for him to get two years of solid footy and then make a judgement. He's only 23, I think from memory (in fact, he's 24). His best football's clearly in front of him."

Full-forward Fraser Gehrig is expected to replace Koschitzke after missing a week due to hand surgery.

■Richmond coach Terry Wallace was reluctant yesterday to say whether the Tigers would select ruckman Troy Simmonds for the match against the Saints.

Simmonds has been out of action since round six when he aggravated his previous ankle injury but last weekend played more than a half with Coburg in the VFL.

"The biggest part to play for us (in selection) will be do we think Troy is ready to play at senior level and is there any risk in taking him in?" Wallace said. "Is it more important for us to play him a lot of ground time at one level down or mid ground-time at the next level?"

With

LYALL JOHNSON