St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has slammed his players' embarrassing lack of physicality after rampant Brisbane inflicted a 56-point thumping that will ratchet up the pressure on his position.
The ferocious Lions put the limp Saints to the sword in a stunning nine-goals-to-one third-quarter blitz that set up Saturday's 17.13 (115) to 8.11 (59) victory in front of 22,885 fans at Marvel Stadium.
St Kilda tidied up the scoreline a little in the final term, but Brisbane led by a game-high 76 points just after three-quarter time and cruised to the line.
"We went in at halftime not playing as well as we'd like but still in the contest," Richardson said.
"But we were smashed in the contest in the third quarter whether it be in the air, on the deck, at clearance, in front of the ball or behind the ball.
"You then try to support the contest and we lost shape.
"That's about us, but they were outstanding ... their leaders (like Dayne Zorko and Lachie Neale) really stepped up.
"They didn't have massive games but they had a massive quarter and we were embarrassed, really, in terms of our physicality in that quarter in particular."
Five-goal hero Charlie Cameron led the charge with three first-quarter goals, adding another two in the third term when his teammates joined in the scoring frenzy.
Zorko impressed with 28 possessions and a goal, with Neale (25 touches) and Daniel Rich (24 disposals and a goal) also influential.
Optimism over St Kilda's surprise 4-1 record to start the season is a distant memory and Richardson's position is under increasing pressure with his side losing six of their past eight matches.
Star duo Dan Hannebery and Jake Carlisle played their first games of the season, but their returns from injury might have come too late for the Saints, who slipped to a 6-7 record.
Hannebery finished with 27 possessions to be among his side's best players, while Carlisle struggled to have an impact in defence or attack in his comeback from pre-season back surgery.
Seb Ross was a key Saint with 30 touches, Jade Gresham had 24 disposals and a goal and Nick Hind booted three majors, but Richardson bemoaned the number of passengers in his side in the disappointing display.
The Lions strengthened their position in the top eight, moving to an 8-5 record and picking up valuable percentage.
Chris Fagan was pleased with how his charges responded after lowly Carlton defeated them at the same ground before last week's bye round.
"I was proud of the boys today because we talked about the idea that if you're really disappointed about the way we played against Carlton a couple of weeks ago then it'll show in our performance today," Fagan said.
"I thought it did.
"It was a bit of an arm wrestle early but to our guys' credit they just stuck to the process and it all paid dividends in that third quarter.
"Everything seemed to gel and happen ... I guess it was pretty exciting to watch."