Inspired by the spirit of their 1966 premiership team, injury-ravaged St Kilda overcame the odds on Saturday to score a famous 29-point win over Collingwood.
The Saints finished the game with one fit player on the bench after Nick Riewoldt and Paddy McCartin were concussed in the second quarter and Dylan Roberton suffered a knee injury in the third term.
But despite that numerical disadvantage, they somehow found a way to break through for their first win of the season - 18.11 (119) to 14.6 (90) - in front of 50,903 fans.
On the day St Kilda celebrated the 50th anniversary of the club's sole flag, the Saints showed enormous courage to defeat the Pies for the first time under Alan Richardson - a win the coach agreed was the best in his time at the club.
"I was really proud of the group. I thought they showed enormous character," Richardson said.
"For the guys to continue to play really physically, be aggressive, attack the game and work through what was clearly going to be physically quite challenging was really positive.
"We're really proud of them."
Barry Breen and Kevin "Cowboy" Neale were among the members of that 1966 premiership team to present the cup to the crowd before the game and they would have been delighted with what they saw from the Saints who attacked Collingwood from start to finish, even as the casualties mounted.
Riewoldt was among his side's best players in an entertaining first half before he was felled by a high Levi Greenwood tackle, while fellow veteran Leigh Montagna was outstanding all day.
He gathered 40 possessions in an influential display, with Jack Newnes, Seb Ross and Jack Steven also important.
The Saints led by just two points at halftime but set up the win with a withering six-goals-to-one third quarter before holding off a belated challenge from the largely disappointing Pies.
"We just didn't play the way that we wanted to play," coach Nathan Buckley said.
"We were too easy to play against for any opposition.
"We couldn't keep the ball in our front half and couldn't defend the ball in our back half."
The Pies had few winners, but Taylor Adams and Adam Treloar worked hard through the middle.
Buckley persisted with his experiment of using Scott Pendlebury off half-back but the skipper wasn't able to have his usual influence.
Collingwood didn't escape unscathed either with Marley Williams unable to finish the game with a foot injury.
Richardson expects Riewoldt and McCartin will be available to play Hawthorn next week, but Roberton is set to miss a couple of weeks with a medial ligament strain.
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