The Saints ran rampant in a seven-goals-to-one first quarter on Saturday afternoon at Metricon Stadium, but crumbled in the face of a Dockers' resurgence in which they kicked eight goals in succession in the 12.7 (79) to 11.7 (73) win.

The Saints hit back with three goals to tie the game up with just over two minutes left, but Lachie Schultz made no mistake from a set shot soon after to secure a famous win.

St Kilda didn't kick a goal in the third quarter, mirroring their disappointing round-one loss to North Melbourne.

"We just had too many blokes that we carried today," Ratten said.

"Our wins have been built on everybody contributing and we just had a few blokes who contributed and others didn't really have much influence on the game.

"We've brought a full squad up here, so we'll play players that are in form.

"If you're not in form or if your form is tapering, you might be in a bit of trouble."

The Dockers pulled off the win two players down in the second half, with Sean Darcy (concussion) and Hayden Young (ankle) leaving the game.

Saints youngster Ben Long is set for a stint on the sidelines after being reported for a front-on bump on Darcy while bent over chasing a ground ball in the second quarter.

St Kilda have been praised widely for their attacking style this season, but Ratten admits they are still searching for the right balance.

"We showed our best and our worst in one day," he said.

"You can look at it and say 'Did we get ahead of ourselves? Did we take the foot off the pedal?' ... I thought we just tried to attack everything (late) but there's still two minutes left and we just needed to be a little bit patient.

"That's a bit of our game at times. We're going a bit too quick when we can just cool our jets a bit, control the footy and play with a bit more composure."

Australian Associated Press