Dylan Roberton in hospital after copping tennis ball to groin

A HARMLESS game of indoor cricket at St Kilda training has put running defender Dylan Roberton in hospital after he copped a delivery in the family jewels.

Painful blow: Saint Dylan Roberton was hospitalised after an indoor cricket session gone wrong. Picture: Daniel Wilkins

A HARMLESS game of indoor cricket at St Kilda training has put running defender Dylan Roberton in hospital after he copped a delivery in the family jewels.

Teammate Shane Savage’s ‘fearsome’ delivery nipped back off the deck and the tennis ball struck Roberton in the groin, leaving the Saint reeling in pain.

A trip to hospital and some stitches were required to repair the damage.

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“When you misjudge a @shanesavage05 slower ball. #bowlingshane,” Roberton wrote, posting the video on Instagram.

St Kilda general manager of football performance Jamie Cox said the Saint was lucky to escape more damage, but unlucky due to the location of the blow.

“To cop such a blow in a harmless game of cricket is very unlucky, but thankfully, he’s okay and will be back on his feet in the next few days,” Cox said.

“Dylan has returned to pre-season training in fantastic shape, so a short break won’t hold him back for too long.”

Dylan Roberton in hospital with his three children. Picture: St Kilda FC

Roberton, 25, and wife Amy have three kids — Boston, 4, Henry, 3, and Pip, 2 — and, luckily, he’s already on the record as saying that will be the extent of the Roberton family.

“We’ve got two boys and a girl, so once we had the girl we decided to stop,” he told Sam Edmund said earlier this year.