Port Adelaide have taken like a duck to the AAMI Stadium water, aquaplaning to a dominant 53-point AFL victory over St Kilda in miserable conditions.

The Power nabbed four goals to one in the first term then blew the game apart with 6.6 to 0.1 in the third quarter, setting up the eventual 14.12 (96) to 6.7 (43) scoreline - a fitting result on the occasion of loyal servant Darryl Wakelin's 250th match.

Much of Port's drive came from best on ground Chad Cornes, Shaun and Peter Burgoyne, and captain Warren Tredrea (three goals), who delivered as close to a commanding performance as any key forward could hope to have in heavy conditions.

Kane Cornes and Steven Salopek did significant damage through the middle, while Wakelin, Troy Chaplin and Michael Pettigrew gave nothing away in defence.

Port's only lowlight was the first quarter exit of Michael Wilson with an arm or shoulder complaint.

Power coach Mark Williams said the win was made more significant by the fact most of it was achieved without Wilson, arguably the club's toughest nut.

"It was always going to be tough in those conditions and losing Michael Wilson, one of our toughest players and best contributors made it difficult, so to get that result we were really pleased," he said.

"The back six were excellent, the midfield persisted and got into it after halftime, and the forwards were outstanding, holding the ball in and playing the way we wanted them to play."

Star Saint Nick Riewoldt staggered off in term two after wearing an accidental boot to the head by Peter Burgoyne and had little impact on proceedings in the second half.

Robert Harvey and Brett Voss (three goals) were the best of a sorry Saints 22, who often appeared hesitant to risk the physical contact inherent in wet weather football.

A resigned-looking St Kilda coach Ross Lyon reported that the Saints had lost Lenny Hayes for six weeks with a suspected broken collar bone while veteran Andrew Thompson had also been felled by a knee cartilage complaint.

Lyon defended his players' desire to compete but conceded they had become disorganised around the ground.

"I thought inside we competed really well, made some clearances around the ground, and at the centre bounces, but they really got us on the outside," he said.

"In the conditions they got a lot of uncontested ball, particularly in the first quarter, they seemed to be able to get a free player, because we were a bit disorganised."

The first bounce took place free of moisture, but that was to prove highly misleading as the rain arrived soon after and proceeded to drench the ground without slackening for the rest of the night, reaching a peak of discomfort in term three.

St Kilda had swapped tall Barry Brooks for the intermediate Andrew McQualter in recognition of the weather, though Port chose tall defender Chaplin to replace the not-yet-fit Dean Brogan, and ultimately chose to start him on Riewoldt.

Port entered the match confident last week's slog in similarly poor weather against Collingwood had ideally prepared their players, and by fulltime it was difficult not to draw the same conclusion.

Largely strong and direct but with the odd moment of finesse when required, the Power claimed a first change gap of 18 points when Shaun Burgoyne sprinted in to goal from a loose ball inside the final minute.

Wilson's injury, and some improved St Kilda touch, saw the margin within a kick soon after the resumption, but Tredrea marked strongly in the square from a Brendon Lade long ball to maintain distance between the sides.

The heaviest showers were to fall after the interval, and it seemed no coincidence that Port's dominance increased with the rain.

St Kilda scarcely ventured across the centreline, went almost 50 minutes without scoring, and finished the term having added only one behind.

At the other end, a succession of scrappy goals to Brad Symes, Shaun Burgoyne, Brett Ebert, Chaplin, Peter Burgoyne and Tredrea brought an early end to any meaningful sense of a contest.

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