But after starting the season so poorly, the Saints have responded in the best possible way with an upset win over Geelong, followed by a second-half demolition of Richmond last Saturday.
In a bizarre fixture, St Kilda (2-1) return to the Adelaide Oval this Sunday to face Port Adelaide, before a Gather Round clash with GWS at Norwood Oval seven days later.
After flying over on Saturday, the Saints will stay in the South Australian capital until after they have played the Giants.
St Kilda midfielder Marcus Windhager is determined to rectify what happened against the Crows when they lost every quarter en route to a 63-point defeat.
"We're not happy with what happened over there in round one," Windhager told AAP.
"That was the complete opposite of the way we wanted to play.
"We copped a whack around the ball, and we didn't play the way we wanted.
"So I guess we've got a bit of a chip on our shoulder going back there."
But if the Saints could walk away from the first five rounds, having played three matches in Adelaide, with a winning record it would be a major boost for a young team.
After the late withdrawal of captain Jack Steele, St Kilda last week fielded a younger team on average than the Tigers, who are undergoing a major rebuild.
There were numerous centre bounces against Richmond when Windhager, at age 21, was the senior midfielder alongside teenagers Hugo Garcia and Tobie Travaglia.
But the recruitment of Western Bulldogs premiership star Jack Macrae has provided sound experience.
"We're so flexible, and we've rotated a lot of people through the midfield over the preseason, so anyone's able to step up and play their role," Windhager said.
"We expect a lot of anyone that comes in there.
"It's a hard task, and a lot of time the onus is on the midfield.
"There was a bit thrown around at us against Richmond with ' 'Steeley' going down and Tobie coming in.
"It was exciting for Tobie to just jump straight in (on debut), and he did a really good job."
Not only will St Kilda be out to make amends for their last Adelaide Oval outing, but they will be determined to snap a horror record against Port, having lost 14 of their last 15 matches to the Power.
The Saints' only win against Port since 2011 came back in 2020.
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