THE WESTERN Bulldogs remain undefeated after defeating St Kilda by 57 points in a scrappy affair at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs were never seriously challenged by the Saints after taking a 17-point lead into quarter-time that would – and should – have been greater but for wasteful kicking in front of goal.

Luke Beveridge's men did not hit the heights of their stunning round one win over Fremantle, but increased their lead at each break to record a convincing 13.15 (93) to 5.6 (36) win in Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt's 300th game.

Defender Jason Johannisen (27 possessions, one goal and three goal assists) was electrifying for the Bulldogs in the back half, most memorably setting up a Jake Stringer goal late in the second term when he outpointed two Saints, who looked headed into attack, intercepting a handball and then exploding down the wing.

Lachie Hunter (a game-high 35 possessions) and Jack Macrae (30) were prolific through the midfield, while Robert Murphy and Matthew Boyd gave the Dogs plenty of drive off half-back.

Dogs defenders Easton Wood, Marcus Adams and Dale Morris teamed well on the Saints tall forwards, while spearhead Tom Boyd continued his encouraging development with three goals.

Coach Luke Beveridge felt his team could have capitalised more but was extremely pleased with the overall result.
 
"When you consider our recent games against the Saints, they just keep coming, they're really dour, and their pressure and their physicality is always really strong, and it was tonight," he said.

"So it was quite an outstanding performance from our boys."

Despite being eventually overwhelmed by the Bulldogs, the Saints' effort in Riewoldt's milestone match could not be faulted.

Alan Richardson's men never really let the Bulldogs settle into their free-flowing comfort zone, winning the tackle count 67-55.
Richardson said after the match that the Saints had been unable to match the Bulldogs in most facets of the game.
 
"We got beaten on the inside, we got beaten on the outside. We hung in there but to be honest that was on the back of some poor goalkicking by them," Richardson said.
 
"Some of our stuff was OK, some of our match-ups. I thought Dempster did a really good job on Stringer, I thought Geary was really positive on Dahlhaus. Montagna trying to give us a bit of use out of the back was quite positive for us.
 
"I thought some of our rebound against a pretty aggressive defensive team was reasonable. (But) some of our stuff then on entry was really poor.
 
"So we didn't make the most of our opportunities, but we were beaten pretty comprehensively on the inside too, in the contest. That was disappointing."

Starting in his new role on the wing, Riewoldt did much of his early work in the Saints' backline as they tried to withstand the Bulldogs' initial onslaught.

However, the six-time best and fairest winner eventually made his way up forward and in the third term was a more effective target than next generation teammates Josh Bruce and Paddy McCartin.

Riewoldt should have kicked two goals for the quarter but missed two relatively easy set shots.

However, he kicked two goals in the second half and finished with 23 possessions and a game-high 14 marks, although he blotted his copybook with some careless turnovers.

Defender Sean Dempster kept in-form Bulldogs spearhead Jake Stringer (two goals) relatively quiet, while Jack Newnes, Leigh Montagna and Jack Steven worked tirelessly through the midfield for the Saints.

The Bulldogs dominated general play in the opening term, winning the inside 50 count 19-7.

But they were wasteful in front of goal, kicking 3.6 for the term to go into the first break with just a 17-point lead.

The second term was a more even affair as the Saints started to find more time and space through the midfield. St Kilda had more inside 50s for the quarter – 14-10 – and started to deliver the ball far better to their forwards.

But, just as the Dogs had in the first term, the Saints struggled in front of goal, missing several relatively straightforward shots in their 2.4 return for the quarter.

With the Dogs suddenly finding their kicking boots to kick 4.0, they stretched their lead to 25 points at half-time.