St Kilda's late-season resurgence has continued after hounding Hawthorn into submission to record a 17-point win at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.

The Saints strangled Hawthorn's usually relentless run and carry through the middle, and although they made plenty of mistakes in an error-riddled game, sealed a 14.11 (95) to 11.12 (78) victory for their eighth win of the year.

St Kilda has now won four of five matches since the mid-season break and is hitting its straps at the right time. No doubt the teams currently in the eight - the Saints sit just outside on percentage - will be looking over their shoulders as the business end of the season approaches.

For the Hawks - who were looking to cement a spot in the top four - this will be a game they would rather forget after being frustrated by the hard-working Saints into making too many uncharacteristic turnovers.

Nick Riewoldt (16 possessions and three goals) and Nick Dal Santo (31 disposals), who both re-signed during the week for a further three years, proved again why they were so highly sought after by other clubs, while Luke Ball - playing his 100th AFL match - was instrumental in the win with 31 touches and three goals.

Luke Hodge was Hawthorn's best player off half-back with 29 disposals and six inside 50s, while Lance Franklin - kept quiet for most of the match by Jason Gram - exploded in the last quarter to finish with five goals from 17 touches.

Almost 38,000 fans turned up hoping to witness something vastly different to the round 8 clash between these two teams but would have been very disappointed in a dour first quarter.

Both teams employed flooding tactics that nullified any attacking thrusts from either side as the game threatened to turn into a repeat of that MCG encounter, described by a number of commentators and former players as one of the worst in recent memory.

Thankfully, the match opened up after quarter-time with St Kilda setting up its win with a five-goal second term to open up a handy 14-point break at half-time.

Hawthorn had its chances to draw closer in the third quarter - with Franklin particularly wasteful with five behinds to go with his handful of goals - but the Saints would not be denied as Ball, Lenny Hayes (30 possessions) and Sam Fisher (24) kept pumping the ball deep into their forward line.

Franklin did eventually find his kicking boots in the last term with three majors but it was too little, too late as St Kilda held on for a well-deserved win.

There was one sour note for the Saints, with Justin Koschitzke likely to come under scrutiny for a late charge on Hawk ruckman Robert Campbell in the second quarter.

ST KILDA: 3.2, 8.4, 12.7, 14.11 (95)
HAWTHORN 2.3, 5.8, 8.10, 11.12 (78)
GOALS: St Kilda: Riewoldt 3, Ball 3, Milne 2, Gehrig, Montagna, Hayes, Koschitzke, Dal Santo, Fiora
Hawthorn: Franklin 5, Dixon 2, Sewell, Taylor, McGlynn, Ellis
BEST: St Kilda: Ball, Dal Santo, Montagna, Hayes, S Fisher, Riewoldt
Hawthorn: Hodge, Young, Franklin, Smith, Birchall
INJURIES: St Kilda: Birss (blurred vision)
Hawthorn: Ellis (bruised hip)
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Thorp (Hawthorn) replaced in selected side by Little
UMPIRES: Kennedy, Sully, Head
CROWD: 37,847 at Telstra Dome