St Kilda are back in the AFL top four after their midfield class prevailed in a 19.9 (123) to 12.4 (76) win over Adelaide at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

Skilful running player Leigh Montagna was outstanding with five goals, as well as 38 disposals.

Fellow midfielders Lenny Hayes and Nick Dal Santo were also pivotal, while Brendon Goddard combined strong work around the ground with stints in attack.

Encouragingly, it was the first time in six rounds St Kilda have topped the 100-point mark, a sign they are gradually coming to terms with the injury-forced absence of skipper and star forward Nick Riewoldt.

But they are yet to find a forward marking target that looks likely to be a reliable contributor in the captain's absence.

Tall forward Justin Koschitzke was completely blanketed by Adelaide's Ben Rutten, so much so that he received a huge ovation when he marked on the lead early in the final quarter, only to botch the kick.

Second-game tall forward Rhys Stanley also rarely threatened.

But it mattered little, given the wealth of ball their midfield was able to send forward and the scoring contributions of their smaller brigade.

Along with Montagna's superb effort, crumbing forwards Stephen Milne (three goals) and Adam Schneider (two) pounced on their chances, and Dal Santo and Andrew McQualter chimed in with two majors each.

The Saints started the match in a blaze, kicking five goals to one in the first 15 minutes to lead by 24 points.

That included three in eight minutes to Montagna, two of them beautiful long-range shots.

The Saints led by three goals at the first change and four early in the second, after a clever threaded goal from Dal Santo.

But the Crows lifted their workrate, allowing their superior marking power in attack to come into effect.

Towering forward Kurt Tippett (three goals) was a constant threat, while Patrick Dangerfield, Jason Porplyzia and Ivan Maric all goaled from contested marks inside 50m in the second term as the Crows charged back to level the scores at half-time.

The teams stayed on level terms for much of the third term, but two goals each for the quarter to Milne and Schneider - Milne setting up both of Schneider's - helped the Saints to a nine-point lead at the last change.

They completely dominated the final quarter, an early mark and goal to Goddard and two more majors to Montagna helping to complete the 47-point win, which lifted them into the four at the Western Bulldogs' expense.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said his midfield eventually got on top through "weight of numbers" with Adelaide missing some key players through injury such as Bernie Vince and Chris Knights.

"Once we took control through there and used the ball better and kept our hardness and pressure I thought the rest looked after itself a little bit," Lyon said.

He said while ideally he would like to see more goals coming from marks, it was a "work in progress" and it was also good to be able to generate goals from general play.

"We're working hard on our football to keep improving and I think there's really good signs," he said.

Adelaide coach Neil Craig said the quantity of injuries the club had sustained this season meant they lacked enough players with the conditioning to maintain their intensity for a full game, which explained the last quarter blow-out.

"We're getting better at it, we're starting to play a harder brand of football, but we just can't get to the line at the moment, so we just need to keep pushing them," Craig said.

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