JESSE Wardlaw has put on a forward line masterclass to lead St Kilda to an emphatic 54-point demolition of Gold Coast at People First Stadium on Saturday.

Wardlaw imposed herself on the contest from the opening moments, kicking two of her team's four first-quarter goals to lay the platform for the 11.8 (74) to 2.8 (20) triumph.

SUNS v SAINTS Full match coverage and stats

It was a superb opening from a Saints team that narrowly missed last year's finals on percentage only.

Molly McDonald (19 disposals), Jaimee Lambert (17) and Olivia Vesely (15) all combined beautifully as St Kilda was able to move the ball from the inside to the outside and beat the Suns on the spread.

It was such an even contribution for the winners, who had 10 goalkickers and nine players with 10 disposals or more.

When they won the ball back in the defensive half, the Saints were able to change angles and transition quickly to give Wardlaw space in the front half of the ground.

And the former Brisbane spearhead took full advantage.

She not only kicked two goals in the opening term – one from the ruck and another from a contested mark in the goalsquare – she laid off another for Vesely after marking at half-forward and honouring her teammate's hard running.

Wardlaw snaffled eight marks and had nine score involvements from her 17 disposals to be clearly the game's best player.

When they didn't have the ball, St Kilda's pressure was immense.

Gold Coast would be terribly disappointed in its performance after playing in its first finals campaign last year.

They won the ball in tight, but undid their work with some poor turnovers and were then beaten when the ball was in space.

Charlie Rowbottom (27) tried hard and Claudia Whitfort (20) lifted after a slow first half, but the Suns never troubled their opponents.

Wonderful Wardlaw
Jesse Wardlaw's performance was as good as you could ask for from a key forward. From the moment she beat Lauren Bella to a boundary throw-in, grabbed the ball and snapped for her first goal, she utterly dominated the Suns. Standing like a colossus among children, the former Lion's hands were vice-like, clunking eight marks to go with her two goals and four goal assists. She looks fit, agile and ready for a huge 2024.

Suns way off the pace
It's only one game, but that was a horror start for Cam Joyce's team. Gold Coast was able to get their hands on the ball, winning the disposal count by 19 and having the same number of inside 50 entries as St Kilda with 34, but they were well off the pace. They struggled to handle the Saints' heat, made a raft of terrible turnovers that led to goals and were then slow on defensive transition. 

Up next
St Kilda will be out to make it two-from-two against another first-up winner next Sunday when they host Sydney at RSEA Park from 3.05pm (AEST). Gold Coast will try to get off the mark at its home away from home in Mackay, taking on Carlton on Sunday (1.05pm) at Great Barrier Reef Arena.

GOLD COAST     0.1     1.2     1.6      2.8 (20)
ST KILDA          4.1      6.4     7.5      11.8 (74)

GOALS
Gold Coast: Stanton, Maurer
St Kilda: Wardlaw 2, Vesely, Smith, Richards, Lambert, Guthridge, Friend, Caris, Anderson, Stuart

BEST 
Gold Coast: Rowbottom, Whitfort, Darcy, McLaughlin
St Kilda: Wardlaw, McDonald, Vesely, Lambert, Trudgeon, Smith

INJURIES
Gold Coast: D'Arcy (elbow)
St Kilda: Nil

Reports: Nil

Crowd: 1,749 at People First Stadium