The 27-year-old said the players were not on a mission to seek redemption for last September and would instead look past the clash with the Western Bulldogs to the rest of the season.
"It's another opportunity to improve for us and that's the way we're treating it. It's a dress rehearsal for round one," he said on Friday.
"There's a prize at the end of it and any game we play in we're excited to be involved in and we're out there to win.
"But certainly, tomorrow can't make up for last September. Not at all."
The Saints have a good recent record in the NAB Cup, having played in two grand finals since 2004.
Riewoldt said the Saints' progression through the competition to the final round had been an ideal addition to their pre-season.
"We're continuing to play on the best grounds and against the best opposition, and clearly the Western Bulldogs are in fantastic form," he said.
"Both teams would agree that's what you want for round one. You want to play against quality opposition that are going to test you mentally and physically before round one so you can get into that routine and frame of mind you need to be competitive.
"We're excited to be involved in the game and I think it's going to stand both teams in good stead at the start of the season."
There has been talk that St Kilda coach Ross Lyon was less than enthused about making the grand final but he denied that, saying he would be happy for the club to scoop up the $180,000 on offer for winning on Saturday night.
Lyon also said there were other positives for the club in making it all the way through to the grand final.
"We're proud of the effort we bring and that should generate enough excitement; that we played really good football," Lyon said.
"Certainly I've not been spruiking but if you look at our performances, we've played in tough, tight battles that the team's really persisted in and we've produced exciting games for the fans that have attended the NAB Cup.
"We wouldn't want to be playing anywhere else."
Lyon forecast young defender Zac Dawson as the logical choice to attempt to quell Bulldog forward Barry Hall, who has kicked 10 goals across the past two NAB Cup games.
Nick Riewoldt is a $468,100 forward in this year's Toyota AFL Dream Team competition.
