Saints beat Lions by 37 points
All week the Brisbane Lions spoke of revenge, but a rampant St Kilda outfit looked the part and cruised to victory.
The Saints comfortably beat the Lions by 37 points at Telstra Dome and any intentions the visitors had of avenging last year's 139-point drubbing were quickly quashed by a St Kilda side which started like it was the one with the point to prove.
The Saints booted seven goals in the first quarter, and kept the Lions at arm's length for the rest of the night and eventually cruised to victory 19.10 (124) to 12.15 (87) before a crowd of 35,760.
Key forward Nick Riewoldt booted five goals, forward pocket Stephen Milne pocketed three in game No.100 and although Nick Dal Santo and Lenny Hayes can't boast the Brownlow medals the Lions onballers can, they were the most influential and tireless midfielders.
A bandaged head wound meant Dal Santo looked like Little Bo Peep in the second half, but there was nothing gentle about his precision kicking and 31 possessions, nor Hayes' 38 disposals.
Although it wasn't St Kilda's best effort, it was easily enough to account for a Brisbane side which fumbled more, kicked badly and could not get enough out of its stars.
More worryingly, the Lions looked leg-speed slow, although they had only four days between games.
The way big Saint Troy Schwarze burned off Lions skipper Michael Voss on the wing was emphatic, and Brisbane's inability to contain St Kilda's big forwards was a concern for coach Leigh Matthews.
With Mal Michael the only fit and big Lion backman, and deployed to stand Gehrig, Riewoldt was simply too good for the inexperienced Wayde Mills.
St Kilda did have some concerns, as veteran midfielder Robert Harvey injured his left leg, while ruckman Cain Ackland might be in strife for an off-the-ball elbow against opponent Jamie Charman.
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