ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon said after last week's disappointing fade-out against the Western Bulldogs that he would continue to turn players over until the Saints got the "competitive beast" they were after.

There followed a week of very public, scathing criticism of his team, and two non-compulsory changes on Thursday night, defensive types Matt Maguire and Sean Dempster coming in for Raphael Clarke and Jarryn Geary. Come game time against Geelong yesterday, there was also the certainty that anything less than the sort of beastly ferocity the coach sought would see he and the Saints belted publicly, and on the scoreboard, once again.

It was a prospect that seemed to galvanise St Kilda, because for the first quarter at Telstra Dome, the Saints were clearly the superior team, at least as far as that much-sought competitiveness went. Geelong might have posted the first two goals of the game, but it was the Saints in front in all other statistical categories and — after quick goals to Nick Riewoldt and Sam Gilbert — on the board as well.

St Kilda was smashing the Cats for clearances, which it led by a whopping 14-2 at quarter-time, 11 players having registered at least one takeaway, and had prolific ball winners in Lenny Hayes, Luke Ball, and even Leigh Fisher, attempting to close down Gary Ablett's creativity, but winning plenty of possession at the same time.

Sadly for the Saints, however, competitiveness doesn't necessarily equal class, and of that, there emerged an ever-widening gap between these two teams.

The most obvious sign early was, again, on the scoreboard, where at quarter-time, St Kilda's seven-point lead was down to the seven behinds it had registered along with its four goals, Riewoldt and Brendon Goddard in particular guilty of missed opportunities, the Cats meanwhile having posted 4.0.

The Saints must have feared at that first break they'd pay for their wastefulness, and once Geelong recovered its own competitive instincts, those anxieties were duly confirmed.

The damage was done quickly, too. After Riewoldt put St Kilda 13 points up, the Cats began to win their own ball. One centre-bounce clearance, and Steve Johnson finished with a goal after a clever little chip from Ablett over his shoulder. A second, and Paul Chapman pounced on some crumbs for another. A third, and less than a minute later, Cameron Stokes put the Cats in front. They never appeared likely to be headed again.

Geelong was back in that zone again, its defence at once resilient and creative, its midfield, or more specifically master stopper Cameron Ling rendering ineffective the likes of Nick Dal Santo while creating havoc of his own, and the usual suspects Ablett, Jimmy Bartel and Joel Corey just doing again what they do every week.

Soon enough, St Kilda began to fray at the edges. James Kelly booted his second goal of the afternoon after winning a free kick and finding, to his delight, no Saint standing the mark, turning a kick too far out to score into one that made the distance comfortably. David Wocjinski added another. And by the time Johnson dobbed one from 50 metres, the Cats had dominated the inside 50s for the term 14-6, led by 21 points, and were set to hand out a belting.

St Kilda can take some consolation from the fact a margin that, at one stage, looked headed for the 12-goals-plus mark ended up only seven. But it will get little from the burst of six Geelong goals in only 11 minutes that turned a still competitive match into a cakewalk. All that did was underline the gap between these two teams, one clearly far greater than pre-season predictions had counted on.

It featured two strong marks and goals by Tom Hawkins, a lovely pick-up from bootlace level and running conversion by Ling, three more quality bits of work by Stokes, Wocjinski and Joel Selwood, and the piece de resistance late in the piece from Johnson, an intercept of a St Kilda handball on the wing, a running bounce and a one-two with Chapman before the inevitable true finish.

The Saints' answer was a chain of handballs, their most fluent passage of play for the afternoon. Tellingly, it finished with a point to Dal Santo. The Saints are better than that, and, despite the hand-wringing, it's still too early to be penning obituaries. But yesterday wasn't just a reality check, but a rude awakening. Geelong is going to take some catching this season.

And right now, the distance between the Cats and St Kilda seems light years.

GEELONG 4.0 10.6 17.9 21.10 (136)
ST KILDA 4.7 7.8 10.11 13.16 (94)
GOALS Geelong: S Johnson 4, Mooney 3, Hawkins 3, Kelly 2, Stokes 2, Wojcinski 2, J Hunt, Selwood, Gamble, Chapman, Ling. St Kilda: Koschitzke 3, Riewoldt 3, Gehrig 2, Gilbert 2, Milne 2, L Fisher.
BEST Geelong: S Johnson, Scarlett, Ling, Bartel, Kelly, Corey. St Kilda: Hayes, Montagna, Riewoldt, Ball, S Fisher, Goddard.
INJURIES St Kilda: X Clarke (concussion), Harvey (quad).
REPORTS Geelong: Gamble by field umpire James for allegedly striking Dal Santo (St Kilda) in the second quarter.
UMPIRES Rosebury, Chamberlain, Meredith.
CROWD 44,368 at Telstra Dome.

THE UPSHOT
After four rounds the premier is in ominous form, having humbled a team considered by many to be a genuine challenger for this year's flag. These Cats are a class act, a cut above the rest and hungry.

TALKING POINT
Why did St Kilda star Robert Harvey spend so much time on the ground after the first break when he was clearly struggling with injury? The dual Brownlow medallist had four touches after quarter-time.

HOT AND COLD
St Kilda midfielder Nick Dal Santo had seven kicks and 11 handballs, but was soundly beaten by Cameron Ling, who finished with 28 damaging touches and a contender for goal of the day in the third term.