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Despite St Kilda's strong finish, West Coast had too big a buffer and won their AFL match by three goals at Marvel Stadium.

Elliot Yeo and Liam Ryan went from being stuck in a lift to starring for West Coast in their AFL win over St Kilda in the space of a couple hours.

The Saints kicked four goals to one on Saturday night at Marvel Stadium, but the Eagles had done enough for a workmanlike 12.16 (88) to 10.10 (70) win.

Eagles star Jeremy McGovern is certain to come under video scrutiny for a bump well off the ball in the first half that flattened Blake Acres.

While Acres played out the game, McGovern is in trouble for the incident.

Yeo, Ryan and teammates Jack Darling, Oscar Allen and Andrew Gaff did not have the best preparation for the match.

They were in a lift at the team hotel that was stuck for around half an hour earlier on Saturday afternoon.

The players played cards and posted on social media before they were freed from the lift.

"I didn't know until I got to the ground ... they're pretty resilient, our boys," coach Adam Simpson said with a smile.

Yeo, Dom Sheed and Luke Shuey were dominant in the midfield, while Ryan's work rate was massive and he deserved a better return than 1.4.

The reigning premiers remain well off their best, but did what was needed and improved to 5-3 for the season.

"Our effort has been there for the last two weeks, so we've rectified some things we were quite poor on for a few weeks," Simpson said.

"I was really proud of our players (against St Kilda) - winning is hard."

After winning four of their opening five games, the Saints are mired in a three-match losing streak - but coach Alan Richardson remains positive.

"There's a lot that's heading the right way," he said.

"There's some work that still needs to be done ... (finishing off) is ongoing challenge for us, no doubt about that."

Eagles captain Shannon Hurn was solid in defence, while Saints key forward Josh Bruce returned to form with 10 marks, seven of them contested, and a goal.

When West Coast opening the second term with two quick goals, a long night appeared to loom for the Saints.

But St Kilda impressively worked their way back into the game, kicking the only other two goals before halftime to trail by just seven points.

Saints fans were raging about the 7-3 free-kick count, with a string of calls going against their team.

The margin was only six points 12 minutes into the third term, after an excellent snap from Shane Savage and a goal to Dean Kent.

But Eagles key forward Josh Kennedy put a dagger through their hearts, kicking the last two goals of the third term after a quiet game for a decisive 30-point break.