INJURY-RAVAGED St Kilda has dug deep to score a famous 29-point victory over Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday.

The Saints finished with one fit player on the bench after Nick Riewoldt and Paddy McCartin were concussed in the second quarter and Dylan Roberton suffered a knee injury in the third term.

But despite that numerical disadvantage, they somehow found a way to break through for their first win of the season - 18.11 (119) to 14.6 (90) - in front of 50,903 fans.

Five talking points: St Kilda v Collingwood

On the day St Kilda celebrated the 50th anniversary of the club's sole flag, the Saints showed enormous courage to defeat the Pies for the first time under Alan Richardson - a win the coach agreed was the best in his time at the club.

"I was really proud of the group. I thought they showed enormous character," Richardson said.

"For the guys to continue to play really physically, be aggressive, attack the game and work through what was clearly going to be physically quite challenging was really positive.

"We're really proud of them."

Barry Breen and Kevin "Cowboy" Neale were among the members of that 1966 premiership team to present the cup to the crowd before the game and they would have been delighted with what they saw from the Saints who attacked Collingwood from start to finish, even as the casualties mounted.

Riewoldt was among his side's best players in an entertaining first half before he was felled by a high Levi Greenwood tackle, while fellow veteran Leigh Montagna was outstanding all day.

He gathered 40 possessions in an influential display, with Jack Newnes, Seb Ross and Jack Steven also important.

The Saints led by just two points at half-time but set up the win with a withering six-goals-to-one third quarter before holding off a belated challenge from the largely disappointing Pies.

"We just didn't play the way that we wanted to play," coach Nathan Buckley said.

"We were too easy to play against for any opposition.

"We couldn't keep the ball in our front half and couldn't defend the ball in our back half."

The Pies had few winners, but Taylor Adams and Adam Treloar worked hard through the middle.

Buckley persisted with his experiment of using Scott Pendlebury off half-back but the skipper wasn't able to have his usual influence.

Collingwood didn't escape unscathed either with Marley Williams unable to finish the game with a foot injury.

Richardson expects Riewoldt and McCartin will be available to play Hawthorn next week, but Roberton is set to miss a couple of weeks with a medial ligament strain.

MEDICAL ROOM
St Kilda: Nick Riewoldt passed his concussion test but the Saints' doctors would not clear him to play on. He was looking 'bright' post-match and had been desperate to play on, according to coach Alan Richardson. McCartin failed his test and must be considered less likely to play next week. Dylan Roberton suffered a medial ligament strain to his right knee and is expected to miss two matches.

Collingwood: Marley Williams suffered "a mid-foot sprain", Nathan Buckley said, which robbed the Magpies of drive off half-back. He went down to the rooms with the injury at the end of the first quarter after trying to play through it for a few minutes and will need scans to determine the severity.

NEXT UP
The Saints have set a new benchmark for themselves and will put it to the test against three-time premier Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium next Saturday. The big challenge for the Saints will be recovering adequately after playing out Saturday's match with a one-man bench. The Magpies face Melbourne at the MCG next Sunday and will be desperate to square their season at 2-2. 

St Kilda                  6.3   9.6   15.7   18.11 (119)
Collingwood          4.3   9.4   10.6   14.6 (90)    

GOALS
St Kilda: Weller 3, Steven 3, Riewoldt 2, Bruce 2, Gilbert 2, Billings 2, Sinclair, McCartin, Lonie, Armitage
Collingwood: Fasolo 2, Cloke 2, de Goey 2, Pendlebury 2, Howe, Aish, Crisp, Oxley, Langdon, Adams 

BEST
St Kilda: Montagna, Steven, Newnes, Billings, Hickey, Weller, Dempster
Collingwood: Adams, Langdon, Oxley, Pendlebury 

INJURIES
St Kilda: Riewoldt (concussion), McCartin (concussion), Roberton (knee)
Collingwood: Williams (toe) 

Reports: Nil 

Umpires: Hosking, Hay, McInerney  

Official crowd: 50,903 at the MCG