The Demons 13.12 (90) defeated the Saints 10.12 (72) to end St Kilda's season and set up a semi-final clash against the loser of the Adelaide and Fremantle qualifier which will be played on Saturday afternoon.
Melbourne will have to travel to either Adelaide or Perth for next week's encounter while St Kilda's 2006 campaign is over after promising much. Injuries again plagued its season as was the case against the Demons.
The final quarter was a beauty. St Kilda landed the first blow when Steven Baker gave the Saints a 15-point buffer and again the Saints looked home.
And St Kilda had led from the 13-minute mark of the opening term to the 16-minute mark of the final quarter when Melbourne skipper David Neitz put the Demons in front. From that point, Melbourne didn't look back. At one point, Melbourne trailed by 27 points.
A crucial error from Max Hudghton - he threw his arm out which collected opponent Brock McLean in front of goal - put Melbourne up by 13 points. An Adem Yze goal then iced the match.
Brock McLean was super for the Demons. The hard-at-it midfielder finished the match with 25 disposals in a best-on-ground effort while teammate Cameron Bruce was also a standout. He won 29 touches for the night, equal most on the ground with Demon Brad Green.
Neitz, playing his first final since 2002 due to injury-interrupted campaigns in 2004-05, was terrific up forward with four goals. His performance in the final term was crucial to the result.
Ruckman Jeff White and ball-winner James McDonald were also pivotal in the win.
For St Kilda, Steven Baker was brilliant on Melbourne livewire Aaron Davey, while 35-year-old Robert Harvey was a shining light early. He won 10 touches in the first term and Nick Riewoldt presented all night and finished with 20 disposals and two goals.
When Stephen Milne slammed the first on the board inside the first 45 seconds of the match, it was the sign of things to come for the Saints. Although Melbourne answered with two in a row - a terrific snap from Neitz and a set-shot from Brad Miller - and hit the front, the term clearly belonged to St Kilda.
Fraser Gehrig came to the fore mid-way during the term with three in three minutes, which forced his initial opponent Ben Holland to be shifted from him. Nathan Carroll then became the 'G-Train's' minder.
St Kilda's hunger and decision-making in the first term was emphatic yet it should have led by more than 20 points having registered 5.4 to 2.2 for the term.
Xavier Clarke put his body on the line when he attempted a courageous mark; Riewoldt used his wet-weather footy smarts to perfection when he soccered the ball from the Members' wing which in turn found a leading Gehrig, and Brett Voss' diving mark late in the term was the epitome of St Kilda's desperation during this period.
If luck was to help Melbourne in the second term, it didn't come early on when Matthew Whelan, who was returning from a hamstring injury, left the ground with what appeared to be an AC-joint injury.
Just moments later, Andrew Thompson collected Bruce who had his head over the ball with a hip-and-shoulder which put the Demon to the ground.
And when Riewoldt landed another hit - St Kilda's sixth goal - Melbourne had been boxed into the corner, trailing by 27 points. As the rain got heavier, the goals dried up, with Neitz's second the only other major added for the term.
This allowed Melbourne to remain in the hunt - it trailed by 20 points at the long break -although St Kilda clearly had the better of the Demons in the first half.
Yet it wasn't all smooth-sailing for the Saints in the second term as there were worrying signs when Justin Koschitzke left the field after clashing heads with McLean. 'Kosi' who was wearing a helmet as a result of suffering a fractured skull earlier this season, returned in the second half.
Robert Harvey copped one high in a contest with Nathan Carroll and Fraser Gehrig hurt his ankle just on half-time.
Gehrig's injury occurred after he marked in front of Carroll and attempted to run around the Demon defender before the man-with-the-mo laid a fine tackle. Once back on his feet, the 'G-Train' hobbled to the line.
It ended an event-filled first half, though there was a minor fracas as the teams left the field.
Gehrig's ankle proved a problem early in the third term and he was off after two minutes into the second half although he did return later in the match.
St Kilda's inaccuracy proved telling. Melbourne booted the first three goals of the second half and when Russell Robertson kicking truly at the 12-minute mark the Demons trailed by just two points and it was game-on.
And when Raphael Clarke left the field with a hamstring injury at the 15-minute mark, the pendulum had swung back in Melbourne's favour.
But St Kilda reversed the trend and hit back in style with three of its own and was back out to a 22-point advantage. The Demons hit back with two late goals in red-time and it was just nine points heading into the final stanza.
But when the Demons kicked five goals to one in the last term the red and blue was home.
The win was Melbourne's ninth victory from 11 encounters against the Saints and it was the third time the Demons had knocked off St Kilda in three finals. It was also Melbourne's 11th win from 12 matches at the MCG this year.
Melbourne coach Neale Daniher was delighted after the game, saying that the players had showed some genuine character and done the club proud.
"I couldn't have been prouder of the Melbourne Football Club and the team that represented them as a coach. The fightback, the toughness, mentally and physically to fight back and then when times they got 20 points up, to continue. I know our supporters would very, very proud of what the red and blue did tonight."
Daniher said he couldn't pinpoint a moment when the match had turned around for the Demons but that his team's terrific work-rate and self-belief had played a significant part.
"I thought it was more a grinding, grinding back into the game, rather than a magical turning point. I thought the turning point was that we continued to believe in our system, in what we were trying to do, and we continued to have the belief in each other."
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas believed his injury-ravaged team was the best for nearly three quarters but rued not having a big enough lead to guard against their lack of fit men in the finish.
"We didn't have enough of a break on them. I thought we could have orchestrated a five or six-goal lead in the game but that wasn't to be and it kept them close enough," he said.
"And they didn't have to be Einstein to work out that we were running out of legs and running out of numbers, they just kept persevering and full credit to them."
ST KILDA: 5.4, 6.6, 9.8, 10.12 (72)
MELBOURNE: 2.2, 3.4, 8.5, 13.12 (90)
GOALS – St Kilda: Gehrig 3, Milne 2, Riewoldt 2, Koschitzke, Peckett, Baker
Melbourne: Neitz 4, McLean 2, Miller, McDonald, Bruce, Robertson, Pickett, Bate, Yze
BEST – St Kilda: Riewoldt, Harvey, Baker, S.Fisher, Milne, Ball, Gehrig
Melbourne: McLean, Neitz, Bruce, Green, McDonald, White, Carroll
INJURIES – St Kilda: R.Clarke (hamstring), Gehrig (ankle), X.Clarke (back), Harvey (hamstring)
Melbourne: Whelan (shoulder)
CHANGES: Nil
REPORTS - A.Thompson (StK) by umpire Goldspink for rough conduct against Bruce (Melb) in the second quarter
UMPIRES - Rosebury, Schmitt, Goldspink
CROWD - 67,528 at the MCG
