Former Carlton champion Anthony Koutoufides says there is no guarantee St Kilda superstar Nick Riewoldt will be the force he was after undergoing surgery on a potential season-ending hamstring tear.

The athletic Koutoufides was universally regarded as the game's best player in 2000 before two knee reconstructions soon ruined his career and forced him to change his style.

The former Carlton skipper knows all about the frustrations of long-term injuries and, like Riewoldt, understands the added pressures that come from being the best player of a team forced to watch idly from the sidelines.

"As a player you always think you'll come back as good as you were, but you never know," Koutoufides told backpagelead.com.au.

"This has come when he (Riewoldt) is 27 and at his peak. We'll see what happens when he comes back.

"This is a serious injury. If he tries to come back too early, it could hurt him next season as well."

Riewoldt had hamstring surgery on Monday and, while no date for his return has been set, it's hoped he will play a role in the finals provided the Saints are there.

Koutoufides' thoughts were echoed by Essendon great James Hird this week, who revealed he felt former teammate Matthew Lloyd never again recaptured his goal-kicking accuracy after his 2006 season was ruined by an even more serious hamstring injury than Riewoldt's - when the tendon is torn off the bone.

The injury also slowed Lloyd's ability to "burst" on the lead, with the full-forward unsuccessful in his attempt to work more in and around the goal-square in his final years.

Former Essendon great Paul Salmon, like Riewoldt, was the focus of his team's forward line when Geoff Raines ran across his knee and destroyed his 1984 campaign.

Salmon, like Riewoldt, had been unstoppable to that point of the season. Like the Saints, the Bombers had their premiership "window" well and truly open.

Kevin Sheedy's men were able to capture a breakthrough flag in '84 even without Salmon, who, returning from a knee reconstruction, needed reassuring words from his coach a year later to finally shed his own mental demons and play a key role in back-to-back premierships. "I had just come back and was playing reserves in Round 20 when Sheeds said just to relax and he was going to play me in the grand final if we made it," Salmon said.

"In round 22, I kicked seven against Sydney (in the seniors) and what Sheeds did that year was give me a chance to play in a grand final after I put too much pressure on myself and was choking under the pressure."

Salmon said Riewoldt faced just as great a mental battle as he does physical to recapture his best form.

"He will play some mental games with himself because he is captain as well," Salmon said.

"The associated pressure of being a St Kilda captain in a premiership window must be a small burden at least. But he has got to get pretty selfish about it and get his rehab right.

"When it looks like he is going to play again, that's when the real mental games kick in, whether it (hamstring) will hold up and whether he has done the right thing by the team and can play at the level required given the level of his fitness.

"The mental games are again playing on instinct, rather than accommodating an injury which is the hard part."

Koutoufides said it was important psychologically for Riewoldt that he aimed for a return come the finals, with Salmon fully aware of what may be flashing through the champion forward's mind after falling just short of the ultimate success in last year's grand final.

"I know when Essendon went back to back, we thought we would be a really good show again in '86," Salmon said.

"We had serious injuries to key players and we were back in the pack and playing in an elimination final against a fired up Fitzroy.

"It was five years before we played in another grand final and eight years before another premiership, and I was very lucky to get that chance.''

If Riewoldt and the Saints are looking for inspiration, they could do worse than look to the Cats.

Geelong last year timed Brad Ottens' return to perfection with the key big man playing a pivotal role in the club's second premiership in three years.

Ottens damaged his medial ligament against Richmond in Round 2 and was sidelined for 15 weeks before returning via the VFL. He had four weeks there and finally did enough to earn a senior recall in Round 22. Within a month, he was the most effective ruckman in the grand final with 25 hit outs and six clearances.

The Cats had similar success with Max Rooke. The rugged utility had a potentially season-ending hamstring tear in Round 13, 2007 but, aided by help from a soft-tissue specialist in Germany, returned for the finals and became a premiership hero.

The best of intentions, however, don't always work. West Coast rolled the dice with then ruckman Michael Gardiner in 2005 after a year marred by injury and suspension. He limped through the finals and his inept display in the Grand Final was largely blamed for the Eagles' demise.

In 1998, Adelaide's flashy forward Tony Modra sat out the opening 15 rounds, having torn his knee in the '97 preliminary final. When he did return, Modra spent eight weeks in the seniors but managed only 19 goals, was dumped after the first final, missed a premiership and duly left the club.