Collingwood has burst St Kilda's early-season bubble and spoiled the debut of No.1 draft pick Paddy McCartin, beating the Saints by 74 points at the MCG on Friday night.

In a return to form for the stuttering Magpies, they swarmed around a young St Kilda team and kicked their highest score since round 14, 2011 to win 21.14 (140) to 10.6 (66).  

The win was Collingwood's seventh in succession over St Kilda, and the Magpies have now won every head-to-head meeting with the Saints since the drawn 2010 Grand Final. The Pies also topped 100 points in a game for the first time since beating St Kilda by 86 points at Etihad Stadium in round 11 last season.

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Midfielder Dane Swan was back to his prolific best, dominating in the dry and when the rain came to finish with 38 disposals, 15 inside 50s and seven clearances as best on ground. 

Young forward Jamie Elliott was electric in the forward line, kicking four goals and taking six marks inside 50, including a spectacular pack grab in the first term that was controversially paid after he appeared to fumble it to ground. 

It could have been a great night for Travis Cloke, but it ended with the wayward key forward laughing and shaking his head after his fifth goal.

Cloke finished with a bag, but he missed several seemingly simple set shots to finish with 5.4, three of his goals coming in the last term with the pressure off.

Captain Scott Pendlebury (30 possessions) overcome an ankle issue to play and help the Magpies' midfield take the points, but St Kilda's skipper Nick Riewoldt had to be withdrawn dramatically late with calf soreness.

Riewoldt's absence was keenly felt on-field, but it paved the way for the 18-year-old McCartin to make his anticipated debut, escaping the hype that would normally accompany a No.1 draft pick's first game.

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It was a quiet night early for McCartin, who was kept statless by Jack Frost in the first half. He worked into the game in the second half, however, and finished with nine possessions.

The Saints' brightest period of the night was the first five minutes, which saw them kick three unanswered goals, including a running effort from Jarryn Geary from 50 metres.

Quick movement and long kicking was paying off for the young team, which was still riding a wave of confidence after its away win over Gold Coast in round two. But St Kilda's ascendancy was short-lived.

The Magpies reset and went on a nine-goal-to-one run, ramping up their tackling pressure and appearing to rattle the Saints' youngsters who had been so adventurous early.

The turnaround started in the midfield, where the Magpies convincingly won the contested possessions (55-33), clearances (17-8) and inside 50s (25-5) through the second quarter.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said he was pleased with his senior players' ability to wrest back control of the match after a sluggish start.

"We weren't happy with the way we came out … no pressure, didn't tackle, didn't defend, and accordingly St Kilda hit the scoreboard," he said.

"The leaders on field were able to control that … we slowly and steadily turned the contested possessions and clearances around, and got a better contest and started defending 

"We got the game on our terms, which was good for the rest of the day.

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Ruckman Brodie Grundy, who finished with 30 hit-outs and 23 possessions, also turned the tables on opponent Billy Longer and started to get first hands on the ball in the middle.    

The Magpies had a massive 66 inside 50s across the final three quarters, with St Kilda coach Alan Richardson admitting his team had unraveled after a bright start.

"We were just really poor in the contest, we fumbled terribly and they broke our pressure," Richardson said. 

"It was disappointing, we were pretty positive coming off the back of the game at Metricon Stadium.

"What happened tonight far too often, we'd trust that we'd have one-v-one and at times even have an out-number at a scrimmage or the spill that came from a contest, and blokes would leave based on trust.

"It wouldn't get done and we'd get burnt out the back, so that was disappointing … we need to trust we're going to be good in contests."

Midfielder Taylor Adams (foot) was a late withdrawal for the Magpies, allowing Patrick Karnezis to play his first game for the club as the substitute, the former Brisbane Lion kicking a late goal.

COLLINGWOOD    6.2    12.6   16.10  21.14 (140)
ST KILDA               6.3     7.4     8.6     10.6 (66)

GOALS
Collingwood: Cloke 5, Elliott 4, Dwyer 2, Varcoe, Crisp, Swan, Broomhead, Gault, White, Grundy, Blair, Oxley, Karnezis
St Kilda: Bruce 2, Roberton, Saad, Geary, Sinclair, Steven, Armitage, Membrey

BEST 
Collingwood: Swan, Elliott, Oxley, Pendlebury, Grundy, Crisp, Cloke
St Kilda: Steven, Armitage, Roberton, Newnes, Savage, Dunstan

INJURIES 
Collingwood: Adams (foot) replaced in selected side by Karnezis
St Kilda: Riewoldt (calf) replaced in selected side by McCartin, Lonie (knee)

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Nathan Brown replaced by Patrick Karnezis in the third quarter
St Kilda: Jack Lonie (knee) replaced by Nathan Wright at three-quarter time.

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Fisher, Nicholls, Mollison

Official crowd: 45,197 at the MCG