St Kilda have cruised to a 52-point win over North Melbourne, but Saints coach Ross Lyon has warned his players only a four-quarter effort will be good enough to win finals football.

St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt, in his sixth AFL game back from hamstring surgery, kicked 7.5 in an encouraging performance at Etihad Stadium with two rounds remaining before the finals series.

The third-placed Saints trailed by seven points at quarter-time but powered ahead with seven goals to one in the second term to set up Sunday's victory.

St Kilda's win 17.13 (115) to North's 9.9 (63) may not send any shivers through the spines of the Collingwood and Geelong camps but it showed the 2009 grand finalists remain determined to have an impact in September.

And Lyon wasn't happy with his side's efforts in the third quarter when both sides kicked four goals as the Saints went to the three-quarter time break with a 30-point advantage with North still clinging to a faint hope of getting back into the game.

"You can't have quarter lapses because you're going to get hurt really quickly," Lyon said.

The Saints responded to Lyon's stirring three-quarter time address about a lack of tackling intensity with 4.6 to North's 1.2 in the last term.

"For three quarters it was good. We've got another quarter to go away and work on," Lyon said.

"We're building. I didn't really like the third quarter."

Lyon said the Saints seemed to think they could just keep rolling along after half-time and have a comfortable win, without the required effort.

"We were pretty easy to play against. I really just didn't like the whole, it was a bit of a malaise," he said.

"They were a pretty desperate group today North, they were playing for a spot in the finals.

"They (North) kept hanging around. So at three-quarter time I implored the group to really work hard on their competing and pressure.

"I was a little bit animated for me (punching his clipboard during his three-quarter time speech).

"I was just highlighting a couple of indicators. I really liked how we went about it in the last quarter."

Riewoldt had the benefit of some dubious free kicks in the second half and had 19 possessions and 10 marks.

"As a coach it's more than just about Nick, to be frank, as much as it's pleasing to see. I thought our team defence has really stepped up a notch in the last two weeks," Lyon said.

"But we've got plenty to work on. There's some high-calibre teams around at the moment, namely Collingwood, Geelong and the Bulldogs."

Brendon Goddard and fellow defender Jason Gram, along with midfielder Lenny Hayes, helped put the Saints in control as the Kangaroos were outclassed.

Lachie Hansen kicked four goals for North while Brady Rawlings was busy in midfield.

Centre half-back Nathan Grima was strong in defence with 26 possessions, keeping Justin Koschitzke (two goals) quiet for most of the game before switching late to Riewoldt.

North sit one-and-a-half games outside the top eight and their finals chances are only mathematical at best.

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