Third-placed St Kilda eventually nosed clear of Richmond for a 21-point win on Saturday, leaving the Tigers sweating on the fitness of Ben Cousins for his farewell game.

The Saints warmed up for next month's finals with a 17.13 (115) to 14.10 (94) win at Etihad Stadium with Justin Koschitzke (five goals) and Nick Riewoldt (three) forming a strong combination up forward.

Nick's cousin Jack Riewoldt continued his fine season by kicking half of Richmond's goal tally, moving his personal haul for the season to 75, an eight-goal lead in the Coleman Medal ahead of Western Bulldogs spearhead Barry Hall.

Leigh Montagna, with 42 possessions, and Nick Dal Santo were dominant for the Saints who scored their 13th consecutive win over the Tigers but didn't seal the victory until the final term, kicking 4.4 to Richmond's wasteful 2.7.

Cousins gathered 20 possessions for the Tigers in his penultimate AFL match but spent the last quarter on the bench with an ice pack on his left hamstring.

The 32-year-old, who has battled drug problems and won't play on next season, said on Saturday night he rated his chances as "50-50" to squeeze one more game out of his tired body.

St Kilda travel to Adelaide to play the Crows next Saturday while Richmond's season ends with a home game against Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium the following day.

Coach Damien Hardwick said the Tigers wanted to send 2005 Brownlow Medallist Cousins out on a high note.

"He feels he just cramped in the hamstring," Hardwick said of the former West Coast captain.

"He'll have scans at some stage and undoubtedly there'll be a cast of thousands down this week to see if he's up and going.

"We're pretty positive with the right rehab and recovery that he'll get up and play.

"We want him to go out on the best possible note we can so we want him on the field and we want to win.

"Ben has been in this league for 15 years so he'll make the call whether he's right to play. If he's right to play, he'll play."

With key midfielders Lenny Hayes and Clint Jones out because of injury, the Saints still had plenty of winners. Hardwick admitted the trio of Brendon Goddard, Montagna and Dal Santo had proved too difficult to stop.

The Saints had trailed by 17 points late in the first quarter and coach Ross Lyon accused his side of being "flippant" with the ball early.

"There's a little bit moving to the business end of the year that's starting to stack up for us a bit but we need to work on the other half that I'm not thrilled with," he said.

"We were a bit flippant with the ball. I think it was six turnover goals in the first quarter.

"That's normally what we give for the game.

"Richmond did a lot right. There was half that I liked and half that I didn't like."

The Saints were only five points clear at halftime and two goals ahead at three-quarter time.

Goddard also took a spectacular high mark at halfback midway through the second quarter, surely one of the marks of the year.

Jack Riewoldt was named winner of the Ian Stewart Medal for best-afield after his seven-goal performance in a losing side for the Tigers.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP