St Kilda have produced a giant 40-point upset to leave Richmond's defence of their AFL premiership in tatters, with the humiliated Tigers registering their lowest score in 60 years.
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Enduring a difficult season at 5-8, the Saints were given little hope on Friday night with Richmond desperately clinging on to eighth spot as they search for a third-straight flag.
However, St Kilda dominated from the outset by kicking the first five goals and an expected Tigers resurgence never materialised as the Saints prevailed 9.8 (62) to 2.10 (22) in front of 14,787 fans.
Disinterested Richmond finished with their lowest score in any match since round 16, 1961, also coming against St Kilda when they finished with 0.8 (8).
If GWS defeat Hawthorn, as expected, on Sunday then the Tigers will be outside of the top-eight at the end of the round.
Adding to Richmond's woes was what could be an ACL knee injury to key defender Noah Balta, who got caught up in a tackle late in the third quarter.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick admitted they were fearing the worst for Balta.
Fellow defender Nathan Broad hobbled out the game but looks set to miss an extended period due to an ankle injury, while Nick Vlastuin was hampered by a calf complaint.
"I'd like to think we're a proud footy club and we don't let people down and our fans down too often, but tonight we just didn't fire a shot," Hardwick said.
"Generally we surge at some stage but we never felt that probably happened at any stage. A lot of credit goes to the Saints."
Making the result even more extraordinary was that Richmond annihilated the Saints by 86 points when the teams met in round five.
But with Rowan Marshall back in the team to reunite with ruck partner Paddy Ryder, St Kilda again looked like the team that made last year's semi-finals.
Their 36-point fade-out to Adelaide before the bye was a distant memory as Ryder and Marshall gave the Saints midfielders silver service, led by a superb performance from Luke Dunstan.
Even Saints forward duo Jack Higgins and Max King, who have been struggling with confidence in front of goal, were able to nail difficult shots in the first half in a massive boost for the pair and their team.
Saints forward Jack Billings was a late withdrawal after hurting his knee during the warm-up and was replaced by Nick Coffield, however, the 21-year-old was subbed off with a left hamstring injury in the third quarter for debutant Leo Connolly.
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten was delighted with the response from his team after two heartbreaking defeats.
"The players work they've done behind the scenes - we've acknowledged we're not where we want to be - so it's a big step forward for our group," Ratten said.
"It was the first time Ryder and Marshall have played together against the Tigers, so to have those boys out really gave us first use of the ball."
Richmond head to the Gold Coast next weekend for a round 16 clash with the Suns, while the Saints will be full of confidence against Collingwood at the MCG.
Australian Associated Press
