FACING Geelong at its home fortress is another experience St Kilda coach Scott Watters believes will benefit his young squad in the long run.

On Saturday night, the Saints will become the first Victorian-based side to play the Cats at Simonds Stadium under lights, after Gold Coast and Fremantle did so earlier in the season.

The Cats have lost one game in 40 starts at their home ground since 2007.

Watters is confident his players will cope with the logistical challenge of playing a night game one hour out of Melbourne.

"It's not too bad. They'll actually car pool, so it's a good opportunity for some of our senior players to spend a little bit more time with the younger players," the St Kilda coach said.

"It's not an interstate trip so we think we'll be ok with that.

"It's terrific to go there. It's got similar sort of dimensions in many ways to Patersons Stadium, which is a ground size I'm familiar with.

"The more we can put these types of experiences in front of our players, the better they'll be in the long term."

Jarryn Geary and Dylan Roberton will have to pass fitness tests on Thursday to play, while the likes of Jason Blake, Seb Ross, Sam Dunell and Arryn Siposs will be considered by the selection committee.

Elevated rookie Tom Curren will back up from his first AFL game last week where he kicked an important goal in the fourth quarter against Port Adelaide that briefly gave the Saints the lead.

Watters said his group had put in brave performances recently; against West Coast in round 11, versus Fremantle away without Nick Riewoldt and Stephen Milne in round 15, and in last week's comeback against the Power.

"They're a gutsy group and I have an enormous amount of faith in their character, in their resilience. I know we're not quite at the point where we're winning the games of footy we'd like to but I look at this group with enormous optimism," he said.

"All of those experiences say something about the group so I can't wait to go down to Simonds Stadium.

"It's an incredibly tough ground to win at, they're a great side but this is exactly the sort of experience that our players are craving and need.

"We have Hawthorn, Sydney and Brisbane away coming up … I want to expose all our young players in particular to these sorts of challenges.

"Whilst they're tough right at the moment, they're the challenges that will define the group going forward."

Jennifer Phelan is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenPhelan.