St Kilda coach Brett Ratten says his club will “get around” mature-age ruckman Jack Hayes after he went down with a season-ending knee injury.

Ratten confirmed Hayes had ruptured his ACL and would need a knee reconstruction that would end his season but he added that the club would support the former bricklayer and SANFL player who turned a trial with the club into a contract for this season.

Ratten intimated that the Saints would re-sign Hayes and he expected him to play a big role in future seasons.

“It’s a feeling of mixed emotions. We came to Canberra to win the game and get the four points and I thought our second half was very encouraging,” Ratten said.

“When you have somebody like Jack Hayes, what a great person, and what he’s done in a short term at our footy club, to do an ACL, I think the mood is a little bit up and down.

“Jack is a great introduction to our footy club with the way he has gone about it, and he will have the ACL treatment and recovery and he will be at our footy club for a long time.

“It’s up to us to look after him now and make sure he gets through this stage, and gets ready for next year. We’ll be there with him and with our arm around him.”