ST KILDA youngster Alix Tauru has been handed a four-match ban for his high bump on Footscray's Stirling Phipps-Parsons at the weekend.

Tauru was sent straight to the VFL Tribunal for the incident, which was graded as severe impact, high contact and careless conduct. 

Phipps-Parsons was unable to return to the field as the Saints went on to win by 37 points on Sunday.

Key defender Tauru, who was taken with pick No.10 in the 2024 Telstra AFL Draft, has now been cited four times in the past 12 months, with his previous poor record counting against him on Tuesday night.

The 19-year-old served a two-game suspension for striking a Sandringham opponent in May and had a one-game ban for a bump downgraded to a fine in the same game. Last year he copped a four-game ban for rough conduct on Brisbane's Curtis McCarthy.

Tauru has played 18 games for the Saints but has battled for continuity, partly due to suspensions. 

Tauru's absence adds to an availability issue for the Saints as they head into their mid-season bye.

Co-captain Jack Sinclair looks set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a serious calf injury on Sunday, while ruck Tom De Koning was hospitalised with a punctured lung.