St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has praised his team's final-quarter heroics during the club's shock 23-point victory over West Coast at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.

The Saints led by as much as 44 points early in the second quarter before the Eagles launched a remarkable comeback, closing to within four points during a nail-biting final stanza.

But St Kilda refused to give in, holding firm in defence before booting the final three goals of the game to run away with the 15.9 (99) to 11.10 (76) victory.

"I was pretty sure we wouldn't wilt," Lyon said.

"You don't fluke being premiers and playing back-to-back grand finals. You've got substance and character… West Coast were always going to come, I've experienced that here before."

"The crowd starts roaring, the adrenalin starts pumping. (Daniel) Kerr lifted, (Shannon) Hurn lifted, (Dean) Cox got going. So we expected it, but it's one thing knowing (it's coming) and another thing stopping it. In the last quarter they didn't take their opportunities and I think we did."

"We had a focus. Everyone talks about critical games and finals games but our focus was to come over and take our opportunities and play like a strong team."

"We had some indicators to focus on and we did that in three of the four quarters. It showed some character not to wilt. Throughout the year we've been in most games halfway through third quarters… so we wanted to persist and we did that. So that was really pleasing."

The win lifts the Saints to a 5-7 win-loss record, but they are still two games and percentage outside the top eight.

"I don't know how you measure momentum but it makes us 5-7," Lyon replied when asked what the win meant for the remainder of the season.

"What is it, round 12? We're 5-7, we had a win... it means nothing more than that, except we found a little bit better ball use and the players feel a little bit better about themselves. Footy clubs are a lot better places to walk into when you win, so that's all it means."

"West Coast are a great team. They had a lot of players out. No (Chris) Judd, no (Ashley) Hansen, no (Andrew) Embley, but in saying that you can only compete with what's put out there."

"All we've got is respect for West Coast and we wanted to earn a little bit of respect back, and it's a little step along the way."

The win was just reward for Robert Harvey, who collected 30 possessions in his 350th AFL match.

"Everything he stands for is self evident," Lyon said of the 35-year-old veteran.

"Very lucky to have him at the club. I think the general football public is very lucky to have witnessed one of the great runners."