Contender or pretender? St Kilda will find out this weekend.

The Saints' AFL premiership claim will face by far its most stringent test this Saturday night when it hosts indomitable Brisbane.

St Kilda's 65-point win over a disappointing Kangaroos extended its unbeaten start to the season to five games.

The last time the club did that was 1966, when it went on to win its only premiership - raising expectations that a second flag may await in 2004.

But a closer examination of St Kilda's vanquished foes thus far - strugglers Geelong, Richmond and Adelaide, an underdone Essendon and now a sliding Kangaroos - puts the Saints' "achievements" in perspective.

It is a formline crying out for a measuring stick, and they will get one on Saturday night.

The Lions rebounded from a fruitless trip to Perth with a clinical destruction of a meek and defensive Hawthorn that can thank Brisbane's poor finishing for losing by 48 points rather than a more reflective 15 goals.

Hawthorn's fourth straight defeat was its worst, with the team seemingly intent on avoiding a heavy loss with a possession game rather than actually trying to take on their opponent.

Coach Peter Schwab's pre-season claims that the Hawks would win the premiership now look comical, with this Friday night's meeting with Richmond closer to being an early showdown for the wooden spoon.

It will be the Tigers' second straight "crisis" game, with the first being an ignominious 75-point hiding by the previously winless Adelaide.

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