St Kilda’s star recruit Sam Flanders has limped off the field in the midst of a nightmare start in his side’s 52-point loss to Hawthorn on Thursday, with veteran coach Ross Lyon dealt a goalless opening half for the first time.

The Saints, who fought back in the third term before going down 9.13 (67) to 18.11 (119), were seriously struggling deep into the second term when Flanders was stopped in his tracks by an injury with no one around him.

The 24-year-old remained on the wing until he could lean on trainers to head across to the rooms.

“The way he stopped and didn’t want to move, he knew he was done for the night,” Hamish McLachlan said on Channel 7.

Such was the confusion with no obvious signs and symptoms Brian Taylor admitted “we’re all guessing” on whether it was “calf, Achilles, neither or both”.

The Saints later confirmed Flanders was out for the night with an Achilles injury without explicitly stating it was ruptured, which would put him on the sidelines for around a year.

“He’s already in the crutches and moon boot, teammates consoling him at half-time,” Mitch Cleary reported.

Flanders has played every game since joining from Gold Coast in the off-season, averaging 24.5 disposals.

An extended absence will be devastating for the Saints but there is hope on the horizon with Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Liam Ryan set to return in the coming weeks.

“They need that man there so desperately and Flyin’ Ryan as well,” Taylor said as the disappointed duo were shown in the crowd late in the second term.

The Hawks dominated the first half with Jack Gunston kicking the first goal of the game, and he converted again just 15 seconds into the second term.

Saints fans buried their heads in their hands when Max Hall became the latest to miss as the half-time siren neared.

The shocking night in front of goal set Lyon on his way to his first goalless opening half in his coaching career — in his 387th game.

“I think he’ll give them a proper cook because they’ve been pathetic,” Lyon’s former captain Nick Riewoldt said of a looming spray.

Hawthorn did not have it all their own way, with Nick Watson’s goal after the half-time siren curiously wiped out for stepping off his mark in his run-up.

But the Hawks still took a comfortable 8.7 (55) to 0.5 (5) lead into the main break.

Riewoldt doubled down on his former club’s “pathetic” effort on Channel 7’s half-time coverage.

“I don’t need to say more than that,” the Saints great said.

“A lot of what we saw — we spoke to Ross Lyon in the pre-game about what they needed to do to beat the Hawks.

“They needed to be brave with the ball. They weren’t.

“They needed to compete in front of the ball. They didn’t. Some of the stuff we saw in front of the footy wasn’t AFL standard.

“And then when the Hawks won it they weren’t able to apply pressure on them. Crosses all across the board.”

Luke Hodge said Riewoldt’s “honest and accurate appraisal” was on the money.

“The Hawks were good but St Kilda let them be good,” he added.

“There’s a lot of music going on here and I reckon that’s to cover the spray has been giving the St Kilda players.”

But Lyon has evidently cooled off since Riewoldt’s day.

“Oh, nah, he was pretty calm,” Jack Sinclair told Channel 7 at the start of the second half.

“It’s all about just next moment and how we respond. Obviously disappointing but the only option now is to have a crack in the second half and try to get the game on level terms.”

St Kilda nabbed their first goal through swingman Jack Silvagni less than two minutes into the third term.

The Saints finished the quarter with six goals to Hawthorn’s five but the margin blew out further in the last as Blake Hardwick filled in for a resting Gunston with four goals in 25 minutes.

Gunston’s final haul of five goals moved him into the Coleman Medal lead.

Will Day made his much-anticipated comeback from a dislocated shoulder, pulling in 18 disposals.