St Kilda remain in the hunt for a top-two finish to the home and away season thanks to a hard-earned 21-point win over a feisty Richmond under a closed roof at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The outing appears likely to be the 269th and last for colourful Tigers veteran Ben Cousins who finished the match on crutches nursing a suspected torn hamstring.
Richmond stuck with the Saints for three quarters and were right in the contest when trailing by just 12 points at three-quarter time.
Despite the urgings of an animated Damien Hardwick for one big final effort from his young Tigers, the Saints finished the stronger with a four-goal-to-one final term for a 17.13 (115) to 14.10 (94) victory.
The result extends the Saints' winning streak over Richmond to 13.
Sitting on 62 premiership points, two behind the second-placed Cats with one round to play, the Saints now can't be displaced from the top three.
The Saints complete their home and away commitments away to Adelaide while Geelong will host the Eagles.
Saturday's match will be remembered less for the quality of the contest than the many fine individual performances on the day.
Tigers spearhead Jack Riewoldt, held to just five goals from his previous three outings, bagged seven on the day to take a mortgage on the 2010 Coleman Medal.
The 21-year-old now has 75 goals for the season, eight clear of veteran Bulldog Barry Hall who's set to tackle the Swans in Sydney on Saturday night.
Leigh Montagna was untouchable in finishing with a career-high 42 possessions, just three short of Robert Harvey's club record.
Montagna set the tone with 16 disposals in the first-quarter on second-gamer Jamie O'Reilly.
Brendon Goddard, however, was best afield with 29 possessions, two goals and 10 marks, one of which must rank among the contenders for the mark of the year - a towering grab while planted on the shoulders of team-mate Sam Fisher at half-back in the second quarter.
Justin Koschitzke played probably his best game for the season finishing with five goals in a very timely return to form ahead of the finals while Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt finished with three goals.
Cousins, who announced his retirement during the week, spent the last quarter with his right leg heavily iced after coming off late in the third with what appeared to be a hamstring strain.
Even if it's slight, the 32-year-old has next to no chance of being right for next week's match against Port Adelaide which had been pencilled in as his finale.
Jack Riewoldt, who bagged six of the Tigers' eight goals the last time these teams met in Round 11, picked up his first possession at half-back after starting the match on a wing, but still had three goals on the board by quarter time.
It was his hard leading and accurate finishing and the grunt work upfield of Jake King and Trent Cotchin that put the Tigers as much as 17 points in front before late goals from David Armitage and Jason Gram trimmed the lead to five.
The Saints dominated the clearances 14-4 and the tackles 12-4 but otherwise the statistical indicators for the term were evenly balanced.
St Kilda lifted, as expected in the second quarter, but the Tigers refused to roll over.
Justin Koschitzke was the Saints' main target up forward with three goals for the term, one from a soft free and another from a hotly disputed mark.
The pattern mirrored what had taken place 30 minutes earlier with the Saints opening up a 17-point lead before the Tigers struck back with late goals to King and Cotchin to make the difference five points St Kilda's way at half-time.
The Saints kept their noses in front in the third quarter and extended their advantage in the last when it mattered most.
ST KILDA: 5.2, 10.6, 13.9, 17.13 (115)
RICHMOND: 6.1, 10.1, 12.3, 14.10 (94)
GOALS: St Kilda: Koschitzke 5, Riewoldt 3, Goddard 2, Dal Santo 2, Armitage, Gram, Montagna, Pattison, Milne
Richmond: Riewoldt 7, King 3, Cotchin 2, Taylor, Moore
BEST: St Kilda: Goddard, Montagna, Dal Santo, Koschitzke, Geary, Peake
Richmond: Riewoldt, King, Cotchin, Cousins, Deledio, Connors
INJURIES: St Kilda: Nil
Richmond: Cousins (hamstring)
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Clinton Jones replaced by Nick Heyne in St Kilda's selected side
UMPIRES: Wenn, Jennings, McInerney
CROWD: 33,970 at Etihad Stadium