A late Eli Templeton goal put the contest to bed after Clint Jones, who enjoyed yet another prolific afternoon, skewed a kick off his non-preferred boot straight into the arms of the lively second-gamer.
Up until that point, the final term largely belonged to the Giants. Leon Cameron's men pushed and probed but weren't able to reflect their ascendancy on the scoreboard, and Templeton's goal made them pay dearly.
Earlier, a five-minute block in the third quarter turned the contest on its head, as Eli Templeton, Sean Dempster and Nick Riewoldt booted four goals between them in amazingly quick succession.
The St Kilda skipper was especially damaging, proving too hot to handle for GWS youngsters Lachie Plowman and Nick Haynes. On a number of occasions Riewoldt was outnumbered, but he finished with five goals and 13 marks in yet another a vintage display.
David Armitage was back to his prolific best after a quiet game against the Demons, racking up 29 touches to go with his best on ground performance in the corresponding fixture last year.
Feeding the left-footed midfielder for much of the afternoon was ruckman Tom Hickey, who matched it with Shane Mumford and even drifted forward to kick three first half goals. Hickey's is rapidly becoming one of the best around-the-ground big men in the AFL and took another step forwards this afternoon.
Once again, St Kilda's youngsters impressed, most notably Josh Saunders, Jack Newnes, Eli Templeton and Luke Dunstan - the latter booting his first goal in AFL football early in the last term.
FINAL SCORE:
STK: 15.5 (95)
GWS: 13.10 (88)
Best:
Riewoldt, Armitage, Jones, Hickey, Ray, Newnes, Templeton
Goals:
Riewoldt 5, Hickey 3, Templeton 2, Montagna, Ray, Armitage, Dempster, Dunstan
You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32
