St Kilda coach Brett Ratten has praised his side's selflessness and care towards each other off the back of its 69-point triumph over Hawthorn.

The team-first mentality not only fired the Saints towards their highest score and largest win of the season, but recaptured the form which delivered them into finals football in 2020.

“The care for each other and the desperation and the little things – it actually made other players better in the game," Ratten said.

"As a group, every player was doing something to help their teammate, which was great."

Ratten took time to applaud the efforts of wingman Bradley Hill, who regained his mojo against his former side to finish with 27 disposals, five tackles and a game-high 571 metres gained.

Hill has been under fire this season following a handful of quiet performances, but Ratten says some of the criticism levelled at the maligned wingman has been unfair.

“I thought he was very good. I thought some of his defensive acts were outstanding. That smother early in the game, that was a real sign of how invested he is,” Ratten said.

“He’s copped some criticism, and I think sometimes unfairly. He’s been working extremely hard, but for him to bounce back tonight was great.”

But Ratten added he was not getting carried away, noting Hawthorn had key players out such as Jaeger O'Meara, Chad Wingard and Shaun Burgoyne.

"There was aspects to our game [that show] we've still got some work to do," he said.

"We're still really improving as a team, but that was a shot of confidence for us."