ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon last night played down the club's flickering finals hopes after the Saints continued to resurrect their season with a 17-point win over second-placed Hawthorn at Telstra Dome.

St Kilda now has won four of its past five games, and joins a clutch of four clubs on the fringes of the top eight with eight wins and eights losses.

Still the game was not trouble-free for the Saints, with Shane Birss hit in the eye — not the one he seriously injured while with the Western Bulldogs in 2003 — and star Justin Koschitzke risking the attention of the match review panel.

Birss came off late in the game with blurred vision after a hit in the face brought back memories of the incident four years ago that could have cost him his sight.

"I was pretty keen to get him back on. It was reasonably significant in that it was both eyes, it was a heavy hit and there was a previous (injury). But I spoke to the doctor and he is OK," Lyon said.

Koschitzke could come under scrutiny for a late, high collision with Hawthorn ruckman Robert Campbell early in the second quarter. It was an uncharacteristic bump by Koschitzke, who was immediately taken from the ground by Lyon after Campbell was awarded a 50-metre penalty.

St Kilda's celebrated the 200th game of popular defender Max Hudghton and the 100th of Luke Ball, who produced his second strong game in succession with 31 touches and 11 marks after speculation that his body was keeping him from fulfilling his star quality.

"There's been a little bit of focus on Luke but I thought he has responded in a really positive manner over the last two weeks," Lyon said last night. "People thought I was hiding something but I really wasn't."

Lyon stuck to the line that St Kilda was not thinking about finals yet despite its excellent form since the season's halfway point.

"We're not really looking at the ladder and our win-loss. Clearly we needed to improve as a team, and we set ourselves some areas to work on over the break. Win or lose we want to continue to try to deliver … we feel we're doing that."

Earlier St Kilda president Rod Butterss praised Nick Riewoldt, who kicked three goals on Campbell Brown, and Nick Dal Santo for rejecting big offers from other clubs to honour a pact with their teammates, and suggested the Saints were poised to re-sign more stars.

"To win a premiership you need champion players, and players of the calibre of Nick Dal Santo and Nick Riewoldt," Butterss said.

"There's no doubt they could have sought other opportunities. There was huge interest in both those boys, as you can appreciate, and the amount of money that was coming from other clubs was seriously enough to make your eyes water."

Key defender Matt Maguire is the club's next priority.