St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt's recovery from major hamstring tendon surgery is ahead of schedule and he could be back playing as early as Round 15.

That was the prediction today of former North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey, a friend of Riewoldt's, who learnt of the heartening prognosis during a catch-up with the Saints' skipper last week.

In his weekly BackPageLead podcast, Carey revealed the great news for St Kilda fans - and Riewoldt himself: ‘'Without talking out of school, and Nick might have already said this publicly anyway, but I think he's due back in Round 15.

‘'I caught up with Nick about a week ago and just had a bit of a chat and he said he was ahead of schedule with his recovery, which is great for him and great news for the club.

‘'If he does get back on the field for Round 15, you'd assume he'd have done a fair bit of training before that - he prepares himself as well as anyone - so he'll come back in and get seven or eight games under his belt before the finals start, which will be a huge bonus.''

Riewoldt badly tore his right hamstring tendon early in the Round 3 game against Collingwood. There have been fears he would not get back to playing until Round 20 or 22; some medicos even doubted whether he'd play at all this season.

But the anticipated new comeback date will give a huge fillip to the Saints after a disappointing past month, in which the club has lost three of its four matches. Just as importantly, it has lost scoring power in Riewoldt's absence, struggling to kick more than 10 goals each week.

While some doomsayers were predicting the Saints might not make the eight in Riewoldt's absence, Carey was far more upbeat: ‘'I think they're a very good team, they've got a good list and I still think they can make the top four.''

‘'But for the moment I'd suggest what St Kilda have to do is stop worrying about when Nick gets back, and worry instead about getting back to playing the sort of footy that has served them so well in the past two years.''

In addressing a separate issue raised by North Melbourne president James Brayshaw at the weekend, Carey pleaded with Roos' fans to get to the club's matches - and take out a membership. Brayshaw's rallying call for supporters came after a paltry home crowd of 16,479 turned up for the match against Adelaide.

‘'I know Kangaroo supports are as loyal as any out there and I can only say to them: go out and watch a side that has a crack every week and gives huge value for money,'' Carey said. ‘'They've had two poor games when they've been on the wrong end of blowouts but, other than that, they've been very, very good.''

In the BPL Podcast, Carey also said he couldn't wait to see Friday's blockbuster between Geelong and Collingwood, and looked at reasons behind Hawthorn's amazing from fall from grace which has resulted in the club winning 11 from 30 games since its 2008 premiership.