St Kilda's problem remains replacing Riewoldt but on Friday night it was also a case of stopping Riewoldt.

Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt sent a big scare through the Saints at Etihad Stadium with a six-goal haul, although St Kilda steadied to win 14.13 (97) to 8.11 (59) to start round 11 of the AFL season.

The Saints were headed for a massive win when they had Richmond at their mercy and goalless 20 minutes into the second quarter, with seven of their own majors on the board.

But while injured Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt watched from the stands, his younger cousin launched a Richmond comeback with two goals just before half-time and three in the third quarter.

Jack Riewoldt's fifth goal lifted the bottom side to within 12 points of last year's beaten grand finalists - the Tigers trailed by 44 points a quarter earlier - and within reach of a massive upset.

But St Kilda kicked the last two goals of the third quarter and the first two of the last to seal a comfortable win, although the performance was not one of their best.

Goalsneak Stephen Milne was the steadier St Kilda needed with five goals, including two in two minutes during the second quarter.

They were part of a four-goal burst the Saints added in six minutes, which put them on course for victory after some kicking yips either side of quarter-time.

St Kilda's win was their eighth of the season, which moved them into third spot on the ladder, while the Tigers remained anchored to the bottom with 10 losses to accompany last week's win over Port Adelaide.

Riewoldt's haul gave him 35 for the season and moved him into second on the goal-kicking table, behind Fremantle's Matthew Pavlich (36).

Riewoldt has now booted 20 goals from his past four games.

St Kilda's other good players included half-back Raph Clarke, ruck Michael Gardiner and midfielders Farren Ray and Brendon Goddard.

Richmond youngster Dustin Martin impressed in the midfield, captain Chris Newman was brave at half-back and experienced onballers Shane Tuck and Ben Cousins were solid throughout.

In a blow for St Kilda, star midfielder Lenny Hayes was reported for engaging in rough conduct against young Tiger Jeromey Webberley in the first quarter.

Hayes clipped Webberley high with what looked like an open hand.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon was pleased with the way his side responded when challenged.

"I thought we could have nailed it a lot earlier," he said.

"But their clearance work was really good, so that was frustrating for us (them) getting hands on the ball, so we can go away and work on that.

"They had a patch in the third ... but I thought our response to that was really quite strong and immediate and we took control of the game again."

In a blow for St Kilda, star midfielder Lenny Hayes was reported for engaging in rough conduct against young Tiger Jeromey Webberley in the first quarter.

Hayes clipped Webberley high with what looked like an open hand.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon was pleased with the way his side responded when challenged.

"I thought we could have nailed it a lot earlier," he said.

"But their clearance work was really good, so that was frustrating for us (them) getting hands on the ball, so we can go away and work on that.

"They had a patch in the third ... but I thought our response to that was really quite strong and immediate and we took control of the game again."

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was pleased with the Tigers' fightback, but was left lamenting some costly lapses.

"Turnovers killed us. Against a quality side like St Kilda you turn the ball over, especially when you're crossing your forward arc, and they just take the ball back out," he said.

"... There were some good signs, but I thought we let ourselves down though in the end.

"We had the opportunity to win some hard ball at some stages and we let ourselves down in a couple of crucial contests."

Hardwick praised Riewoldt's performance, but acknowledged the Tigers lacked support in attack, as Andrew Collins was their only other goal kicker, with two.

"Jack to his credit was outstanding," Hardwick said.

"He played on some quality opposition in Sam Fisher and (Jason Blake) and he looked very good."

After the game Richmond chaired off retiring ruckman Troy Simmonds, who was serviceable in his 197th career game.

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