'Pain and torture': Why Jake Carlisle is willing to lose a year of his AFL career

St Kilda has already flagged season-ending back surgery for important defender Jake Carlisle.

And now the man himself has revealed the heartbreaking reason why he’s willing to throw away a year of his career to get himself right.

Carlisle has been troubled by a back injury in recent years, which has worsened over the summer and now involves disc issues.

Some days he’s forced to stay in bed and much of the time his partner is doing more than Carlisle would like her to have to do with their baby boy.

“It’s obviously been three months of pain and torture and the occasional needle and whatnot,” he told 7 News on Thursday.

“Something’s gotta happen and once we do, I’m sure I’ll come back better.

“There are times when I can’t (get out of bed). I’ve got a little sixth-month-old and the missus does most of the work. It’s tough at home as well as it is here.”

At 27 years old, missing the entire 2019 season would be a bitter blow to the defender in his third campaign with the club.

St Kilda won just four games last year, going backwards at a time when they hoped and expected to break a six-year finals drought.

Carlisle would love to be out there contributing to a resurgence – just not in his current physical state.

“I’d rather (surgery) than try and push through constant pain where I can’t bend over to pick something up or I can’t even train and can’t even run,” he said.

Saints football chief Simon Lethlean confirmed on Wednesday that sending Carlisle in for an operation was a very real possibility.

“He’s going to need to see a specialist, things aren’t improving,” he told SEN.

“He hasn’t been able to train properly for most of January and it’s not getting better.

“We need to assess whether surgery is going to be an option and if it is, that’s going to mean a significant chunk of his season interrupted.

“I think if you are going under the knife, you are certainly looking at three, four, five months. We are not quite there yet but we certainly haven’t found a different alternative that’s making it better right now.”

The Saints are facing a make-or-break season for coach Alan Richardson, who hasn’t guided his side to the finals in his five years at the helm.

with AAP