St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson says he is proud with the way his side responded against Hawthorn in Tasmania on Saturday after last week’s disappointing second half fadeout at the hands of Geelong.

The Saints led at the final change against the Cats before superstar duo Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, completely destroying St Kilda around the ball.

A week after losing contested ball by 36 in the second half alone, St Kilda responded emphatically at University of Tasmania Stadium by winning contested ball by + 32, with Jack Steele (13 contested possessions), Jack Steven (13), Koby Stevens (12), Jack Newnes (12) and Seb Ross (10) all making an impact at the contest.

“We were very disappointed with the way we finished off the game last week. Once again it was a game we gave ourselves an opportunity against quality opposition so (we were) disappointed to finish off that way,” Richardson said after Saturday’s 75-point win in Launceston.

"I reckon there was a bit of pressure on the club this week given the performance in the last quarter last week, so with all of that there was a fair bit of maturity shown by the group, there was a lot of grit and a lot of spirit in that performance.

“Not very often do I challenge our group publically – I did that after the game. We as a club were disappointed and the players were disappointed with the lack of rising to the next level against the Cats.

“I’m not sure whether they were stung into action but if they are made of the right they’d want to do something about it. We’ve got a lot of trust that we’ve got the right people at our footy club from a talent perspective and a want to do the right thing perspective.

“I’m really proud of the way they played in terms of the contest; that’s the stuff I challenged them on after the game (last week); to go + 33 (in contested possessions) was a really positive day.”

Saturday’s 12-goal win not only evened the ledger at 3-3 ahead of next Friday night’s blockbuster with GWS, it also ended the Saints 10-game losing streak away from home; one area that has been a concern for St Kilda and Richardson in recent times.

“We’ve had a focus on winning on the road. We thought we were strong for big periods of the game over in Perth against West Coast so (we were) really disappointed not to get it done,” Richardson said.

“This was our next opportunity; we almost got there against the Hawks last year. The boys are really pleased.

“I think to beat Hawthorn anywhere is a strong performance. In terms of win-loss they’re probably not where they normally are, bounced back and had a really powerful performance last week so we planned against a team that’s at their best.”