ST KILDA coach Alan Richardson has praised Jack Billings for sparking the Saints into action against Gold Coast after a first half he admitted was "hard to watch".    

Richardson's men were wasteful early against the Suns, kicking just two goals from 29 inside 50s in the first half.

The Saints fell 31 points behind before mounting an impressive second-half comeback to win by four points at Townsville's Riverway Stadium.

MATCH REPORT: Saints storm home

But Richardson was less than impressed with the performance, admitting his side "butchered the footy".

"The first half was average footy … I've never seen us make so many mistakes," Richardson said.

"It was hard to watch. Blokes were trying hard, our tackle count was up, our pressure was up, our effort was up, our execution wasn't.

"We changed (our) structure a little bit to generate a bit more effective use and that worked, but it was a tough first half."

Richardson lauded the performance of Billings, who fired the Saints with two goals in the final quarter and finished with 33 disposals. 

He said Billings was capable of becoming one of the best players in the competition. 

"He stepped up in the second half. A couple of clutch goals when we were struggling to convert," Richardson said.

"He's improving all the time, we think it's quite scary where he might end up. He's a really determined player, he's driven to get there and we thought he was good today."

WATCH: Alan Richardson's full post-match press conference

Richardson said the Saints' second-half resurgence also came down to his side adjusting to the conditions and getting its running game going.

The win in Townsville leaves the Saints knocking on the door of the top eight with games against Brisbane and Richmond to come in the next fortnight.

St Kilda will be buoyed by the impending AFL return of Jake Carlisle and high-profile recruit Dan Hannebery, who are both set to play in the VFL this Sunday following long-term injury concerns.

But Richardson said he did not expect them to hit top form straight away.

"It's good to go 6-6. We've got a really hard game next week against Brisbane down in Melbourne," he said.

"Even if (Hannebery and Carlisle) were to come in, you wouldn't expect them to be outstanding, you'd expect them to be able to play their role.

"But it is good that players are starting to come back, there's no doubt about that."