St Kilda flexed their considerable muscle to embarrass North Melbourne by 104 points in Saturday night's AFL game at Etihad Stadium.

Even without suspended full-forward Justin Koschitzke, the Saints had too many prongs in attack and too much class over the rest of the field, as they steadily increased their lead in a 23.5 (143) to 6.3 (39) cakewalk.

Captain Nick Riewoldt played a superb game with seven goals and a string of sensational marks, while Brendon Goddard booted four goals and former Docker Brett Peake three in his second game for his new club.

The Saints kept North scoreless in the first quarter and kicked the first 10 goals of the game - at one point they led 10.1 to no score - and it was hard to believe the Kangaroos actually beat St Kilda just three games ago, in round 21 last year.

North's early woes, where they were jittery in defence and without a plan entering attack, made for a nightmare for Brad Scott, who was coaching for the first time in Melbourne after last week's away loss to Port Adelaide.

The Kangaroos did not score until David Hale hit the post 10 minutes into the second quarter and were without a goal until Corey Jones threaded a set shot in the 18th minute of the term.

St Kilda gained the percentage booster they deserved with seven goals to one in the last quarter, but were in control all night.

Goalsneak Stephen Milne had two of his three goals on the board inside the first seven minutes, Goddard, Leigh Montagna and Nick Dal Santo ran riot in the midfield, Sam Gilbert continually repelled in defence and James Gwilt mopped up, and Clinton Jones kept North star Brent Harvey to a quiet night.

Riewoldt had little say on things in the first quarter, kicked two goals in the second and put on a clinic in the second half, with several magnificent marks, and a telling goal in the last quarter, when he thumped it through from outside 50 metres.

Riewoldt was even granted the luxury of spending the last part of the game on the bench, after his seventh goal put the Saints 92 points up.

St Kilda's three-figure win was just the 13th of 100 points or more in the club's history, but their biggest over North, as it surpassed the 86-point win they inflicted on the Kangaroos in 1969.

The size of their win earned them a percentage boost from 109 to 188 points.

North were shocking for their lack of poise, their bad skill errors in defence and poor entry into attack.

Hale finished with three goals and Brady Rawlings got 34 touches in defence, but Harvey's bad night was capped with a report late in the game.

Harvey was reported for tripping St Kilda's David Armitage.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon was pleased his players maintained their pressure and effort for the duration of the game.

"There was obviously a lot that went right. I thought our contest all night, our appetite for the contest was really strong and we didn't relent until the final siren," he said.

"When you're getting that sort of effort for a long period you know they're mentally tuned in because it's easy once the scoreboard ticks away to drop in some areas."

Scott said North were "devastated" with what he labelled an "unacceptable" performance, and challenged his players to use the defeat as a defining moment.

"It's unacceptable and everyone at the club knows that and we won't stand for that, so it will be very interesting to see how we respond next week," he said.

"We know where we're going as a footy club and we're very confident in the direction we're headed.

"Today can either be a blip on the radar and an aberration or it can be a defining moment for where we want to go as a club.

"We'll find that out sooner rather than later."

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