St Kilda now moves back into eighth position with the 17.10 (112) to 9.15 (69) victory in warm conditions in Perth, while Fremantle remains 13th with games against Richmond and Collingwood to close out a disappointing 2008 season.
Fremantle started the game well with the first two goals of the game and led by 16 points heading into time-on in the second quarter before a run of seven straight goals either side of half time set up the big St Kilda win.
St Kilda outscored Fremantle by 47 points in the second half with 11 goals to just two by Fremantle. Saints' captain Nick Riewoldt was unstoppable and finished with five goals, 22 possessions and 11 marks.
He received tremendous support up forward from Steven Milne (three goals) and Adam Schneider (four), with Lenny Hayes, Leigh Montagna, Brendon Goddard and Robert Harvey winning plenty of it through the middle.
Rhys Palmer once again led the way for Fremantle. His 30-possession performance is sure to further boost his chances of becoming the NAB Rising Star.
Jeff Farmer spent the game on the wing and finished with 27 possessions, 13 of those in the first term.
Matthew Pavlich was kept to one of his quietest games for some time by Sam Fisher, with the Fremantle captain only having 10 possessions and kicking three goals.
Antoni Grover and Michael Johnson worked hard in defence for Fremantle as well, with Ryan Crowley and Byron Schammer also prominent.
Another bright spot was the performance of Adam Campbell up forward who kicked three terrific long goals in the first half. He only had three possessions in the second half, but that is more due to the service drying up than anything he did wrong.
The Saints got the game's opening goal but in just his third game of the season Campbell nailed two quick ones from long range to put Fremantle in front. Riewoldt and Schneider added goals for St Kilda before quarter time, but so did Luke McPharlin and Paul Duffield to see Fremantle lead by four points.
Fremantle exerted its control early in the second term with Campbell booting his third and Pavlich two in a four-minute burst, but the Saints booted three of the last four goals of the half to trail by just four points at the long break.
The Saints continued that momentum in the third quarter with a massive burst of six goals in the first 12 minutes. After Fremantle looked control with a 16-point lead late in the second quarter, it found itself 26 points behind less than a quarter later.
David Mundy eventually broke the run of seven straight goals, but Riewoldt soon kicked his fourth and Justin Koschitzke another to open up a game high 29-point advantage for the Saints.
Things got even uglier in the last quarter with the Saints adding four goals to one to inflict a big loss on the home side.
While Des Headland should return next week after playing his first WAFL league game with Subiaco following three in the reserves after a knee injury, all at Fremantle breathed a sigh of relief when injury-plagued midfielder Andrew Browne only suffered a cork after being helped off the ground late in the game.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
MATCH DETAILS
St Kilda 3.5 6.6 13.9 17.10 (112)
Fremantle 4.3 7.4 8.11 9.15 (69)
GOALS
St Kilda: Riewoldt 5, Schneider 4, Milne 3, Eddy, Koschitzke, Harvey, Clarke, Gilbert
Fremantle: Campbell 3, Pavlich 3, McPharlin, Duffield, Mundy
BEST
St Kilda: Riewoldt, Fisher, Hayes, Montagna, Goddard, Schneider, King
Fremantle: Palmer, Grover, Michael Johnson, Ibbotson, Farmer, Crowley
INJURIES
St Kilda: Milne (cheekbone)
Fremantle: Browne (corked thigh)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Schmitt, Hendrie, McInerney
Official crowd: 34,014 at Subiaco Oval
