ST KILDA captain Nick Riewoldt is no certainty to return for the Saints' Anzac Day clash against Carlton in New Zealand after potentially suffering a fresh calf injury on Friday night.

Riewoldt was a late withdrawal after final teams were submitted on Friday night, having felt calf soreness during an extended warm-up he routinely does on his own before matches.

The champion forward had battled calf soreness in the lead-up to Friday night's match at the MCG, but coach Alan Richardson said there was a chance he had suffered a new injury.

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The 32-year-old will have scans on Saturday and would need to prove his fitness early in the week for the Saints to risk flying him to Wellington next week.

"It's a bit lower in the calf," Richardson said on Friday night.

"'Rooey' has a routine where he gets here a bit earlier than others and runs around the ground and does significant work. In that period he just felt a little bit sore.

"He's no certainly to play next week. [The flight to New Zealand] is not ideal. He'd have to be reasonably right relatively early in the week.

"It's unlikely we'd chuck him on a plane if he's 50-50 at best. We're not doing the team any favours."

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Richardson said Riewoldt had been ready to play right up until his on-ground warm-up, despite doing very little training this week following a six-day break.

He was replaced in the team by No.1 draft pick Paddy McCartin, who was told an hour before the start of the game that he would make his debut.

Young forward Jack Lonie was substituted out of Friday night's 74-point loss after his knee was tangled in a contest with Travis Varcoe, but Richardson was optimistic the 18-year-old had escaped injury.

"It might not even need to go to scans. He was pretty stable at the end there," the coach said.

"It certainly looked awkward but at this stage he's OK. It just didn't look like Jack could run like we need him to run."

Richardson said half-back Shane Savage should be fit to travel to New Zealand after suffering a corked thigh.