AFL premiership favourites St Kilda have opened their quest for the 2010 flag with a typically hard-fought eight-point win over Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.

The Saints, whose one and only premiership came way back in 1966, were far from their best but still had enough class to see off the new-look Swans 15.6 (96) to 13.10 (88) in front of a poor crowd of 31,330 at Olympic Park.

There was plenty of encouragement for Swans coach Paul Roos as he commenced his final season in charge, with his troops kicking three straight goals in the final quarter to draw within two points, but turnovers and a general lack of cohesion led to their downfall.

Nick Riewoldt (four goals) and Justin Koschitzke totally outclassed opponents Heath Grundy and Lewis Roberts-Thomson respectively, while Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo and Lenny Hayes won plenty of the ball.

Adam Goodes (three goals) and Jarrad McVeigh were outstanding for the home side, but they still have plenty of work to do to get their re-tooled roster to gel.

Koschitzke demonstrated St Kilda's intentions in the opening minute, flattening Sydney defender Nick Malceski, who had his head over the ball.

Malceski had to spend several minutes off the ground before returning to the fray.

But the Swans responded, dominating possession for the opening 15 minutes and kicking the game's opening two goals through Goodes and Ryan O'Keefe.

St Kilda withstood the early onslaught, however, before slamming in five straight goals, taking advantage of some uncharacteristically lax Sydney defensive pressure to lead by nine points at the first break.

Former Lion Daniel Bradshaw gradually worked his way into the game and took advantage of some Goodes brilliance to kick his 497th career goal and first for the Swans.

Goodes chased a ball that seemed destined for the boundary line just near the right-hand behind post and managed to hook it back into play, where Bradshaw was waiting unmarked to cut the margin to seven points at halftime.

The Saints blew their lead out to 20 points by the final change, but the Swans again fought their way back before falling just short.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon was pleased with the first-up effort against a Sydney side that have enjoyed a long pre-season after missing out on last year's finals.

"It was pretty tight. They certainly never give up," he said.

"They're really advanced in their preparation. From our end to come interstate and play against a team that's really up and about, we were sitting ducks.

"It maybe could've gone either way but to walk away with the win is fantastic for the St Kilda footy club."

Swans counterpart Roos was upbeat despite the defeat, although he felt his defensive unit leaked too many easy goals.

"It was a cracking game first up," he said.

"Really high standard. I think just in the end their class and ability to get easy goals at the right time was the difference."

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