St Kilda co-captain Nick Riewoldt started his AFL season with a bang as the Saints cruised to a 17.14 (116) to 9.12 (66) thrashing of the Western Bulldogs at the Telstra Dome.

Riewoldt, who had missed the first two rounds after injuring his hamstring in the pre-season, starred with four goals, seven marks and 19 disposals.

His haul included two goals in the first term as the Saints outscored the Bulldogs 6.3 to 2.2 for the quarter, with the 'Dogs never recovering after the early onslaught.

The damage started in the centre square, where veteran Robert Harvey was on fire early, along with Saints' hard man Steven Baker and Andrew Thompson.

Baker set the tone for his side in the physical stakes, laying a crunching tackle on Bulldogs' star midfielder Scott West in the opening passage of play, with the subsequent turnover setting up an easy goal for Fraser Gehrig 30 seconds into the match.

Harvey, 35, continued to gather touches throughout the night, also kicking a strong goal from 50 metres to start the second half.

The Saints had many more options in attack than the 'Dogs, who leaned heavily on skipper Brad Johnson, particularly in the first half when he kicked 3.3 of his side's half-time total of 3.6.

The Saints had 11 goalkickers, with Riewoldt and fellow key forwards Gehrig and Justin Koschitzke constant dangers, although all three of them let themselves down with some poor shooting for goal.

Small forwards Xavier Clarke and Stephen Milne were also threatening, with Milne working his way into the match with three second-half goals after a quiet start.

While the Bulldogs fought their way back into the match in general play in the second quarter, with West, Daniel Cross and Matthew Boyd exerting an influence, their lack of presence in attack meant they were unable to cut the margin.

The Saints again took over in the midfield early in the second half, with Nick Dal Santo taking a starring role in the centre square after a relatively quiet first half, as his side piled on the first three goals to build their lead to 44 points.

Bulldogs' half-forward Sam Power kicked his side's first goal of the third quarter at the 20-minute mark, the first time in the match a Bulldog other than Johnson had goaled.

He added his second a minute later, but it was a short-lived rally, with the Saints going into the last quarter six goals up and running away with the match with a string of easy late goals.

The win was the fourth straight for the Saints over the Bulldogs and gave them two wins from three rounds this season.

Another positive for St Kilda was the form of first-gamer Clinton Jones, who was tenacious in his attack on the ball and his opponents and also kicked a goal in the final term.

The 'Dogs, who came into the season highly-rated, have lost some of their gloss, with Saturday night's 50-point defeat following last weekend's poor 38-point loss at the hands of Adelaide.

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