GEELONG has blown a golden chance to lock up a top-four spot after letting a 33-point lead slip in an upset 18-point loss to St Kilda.

After Brisbane's one-point loss to Collingwood earlier on Saturday, the Cats only needed victory to seal a double chance in September - and they led by their game-high margin at half-time.

SAINTS v CATS Full match coverage and stats

But an extraordinary third quarter, where St Kilda kicked six unanswered goals and seven in total to Geelong's one, got Ross Lyon's charges back in the game.

The Saints then seized control in the final quarter, kicking away to win 16.11 (107) to 14.5 (89) in front of 31,945 fans at Marvel Stadium.

It was St Kilda's fifth win in seven matches - an excellent finish to the season.

Geelong (56 points, 14-8) sits fourth, just two points ahead of Brisbane, and will need to beat West Coast at GMHBA Stadium to lock in a top-four berth, while a home qualifying final has likely gone begging.

"Oh, they're (the players) not morons and the missed opportunity bit - clearly we're disappointed. We knew what was at stake," coach Chris Scott said after the match.

"They just blew us out of the water early (in the second half) and had the momentum. It was really hard for us to stop.

"And they played some scintillating footy. It was kind of Harlem Globetrotters there at one stage, which is unusual, because the first half was so clearly on our terms."

Skipper Jack Steele (28 disposals, two goals) and Rowan Marshall (28 disposals, 21 hitouts) were crucial to St Kilda's resurgence.

Josh Battle largely kept Jeremy Cameron (three goals) quiet, while Callum Wilkie (28 disposals, 15 marks) was busy in defence.

Jack Higgins (three goals) and Darcy Wilson (two goals, 25 disposals) popped up at crucial times as the Saints shared the goals around.

Lyon indicated a midfield response was behind the turnaround.

"We thought early our pressure and all that was good, but we lacked composure with the ball," he said post game.

"We were a bit fidgety with it and turned it over - as they do, they make you pay really quickly.

"We come out in the third quarter, we got some momentum out of the middle ... and then our ball use just continued to blossom.

"It was a little bit solution based (at half-time), but it was also 'the team needs you to lift', and to their credit, they lifted.

"So when you challenge people, they need to respond. And they responded, and that shows good footy character."

Bradley Hill (back tightness) was substituted late, while Anthony Caminiti suffered a shoulder injury.

Mitch Owens (two goals) could come under scrutiny after catching Tom Stewart high midway through the final term.

Classy Cats defender Lawson Humphries (24 disposals) stood out with his sublime ball use, while Jack Bowes (31 touches) and Shaun Mannagh (two goals, 21 touches) were among their better players.

Geelong kept the St Kilda goalless in the first term and nudged out to a 28-point lead via a Patrick Dangerfield long bomb early in the second quarter.

Steele finally got the Saints on the board four minutes into the second term, but a rapid-fire burst of three Cats goals put the visitors in control at half-time.

St Kilda exploded out of the blocks to boot four unanswered goals, including two to Wilson, inside the opening five minutes of the third quarter.

Tim Membrey kicked St Kilda's fifth on the bounce late in the term to level the scores, before Higgins gave the Saints the lead.

St Kilda led by six at three-quarter-time, and while the final term initially proved an arm-wrestle, five consecutive Saints goals put the game to bed.

St Kilda (13th, 10-12) finishes its season against Carlton next Sunday.

Where do they find them?
The Cats' recruiting has been the envy of the league for years and it looks like they did it again last year. However, it’s not their top picks that are proving to be stars, at least not yet. Shaun Mannagh (pick 36 at 26 years old) and Lawson Humphries (selection 63 - the second last of the draft) were two of Geelong’s best against the Saints; Mannagh with 21 disposals and two goals and Humphries picking up 24 touches. Who knows how good their 2023 draft hand will be when the younger, earlier selections start getting games.

When the Saints are hot, they're red hot
It’s hard to know what St Kilda fans find more frustrating, the Saints at their worst or at their best. At half-time the Cats had the game in the bag before St Kilda turned on the jets and played the super-fast football that they - and only they - can do. They were irrepressible as a six-goal burst turned a 33-point deficit into a five-point lead. Ross Lyon has seen it before, but not often enough. Somehow he needs to find the switch that turns his side from a habitual underachiever into an unstoppable black-white-and-red typhoon. 

ST KILDA    0.3    3.6    10.10    16.11 (107)
GEELONG    3.2    9.3    10.4      14.5 (89)

GOALS
St Kilda: Higgins 3, Wilson 2, Sharman 2, Owens 2, Steele 2, Wood, Membrey, Marshall, Hill, Butler
Geelong: Cameron 3, Stengle 2, Mannagh 2, Rohan, Neale, Knevitt, O.Henry, Dempsey, Dangerfield, Stanley

BEST
St Kilda: Wilkie, Marshall, Steele, Wilson, Higgins,
Geelong: Humphries, Stewart, Mannagh, Bowes, Cameron

INJURIES
St Kilda: Hill (back), Caminiti (shoulder)
Geelong: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Hugo Garcia, replaced Bradley Hill in the fourth quarter
Geelong: Mitch Duncan, replaced Gary Rohan in the third quarter

Crowd: 31,945 at Marvel Stadium