North Melbourne has been defeated by 17 points at the hands of St Kilda on Friday night.

The Roos were well beaten all night, at one stage trailing by 42 points, before a strong finish closed the gap.

St Kilda burst out of the blocks and led by 16 at the first change, but it was the second quarter where it landed the killer blow. While the Saints booted 3.5, they kept North to a solitary point to go into half-time up by 38 points.

Ben Cunnington finished with 32 disposals, which included 26 handballs, Sam Gibson had 30, and Todd Goldstein put in a much-improved performance with 17 touches, 33 hit-outs and a goal.

Coach Brad Scott said North was flattered by the final margin.

"There's no shying away from the fact we made fundamental errors that allowed the opposition to score really easily … you don't score yourself and they score off the back of the indefensible," Scott said.

"I thought we didn't defend overly well throughout the night either, so in the end there's no question the scoreboard flattered us."

North fans paid tribute to Brent Harvey before the game, with the games-record holder given a standing ovation on a lap around the ground. 

NORTH MELBOURNE 2.5 2.6 4.9 10.12 (72)
ST KILDA 5.3 8.8 9.15 12.17 (89)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Clarke 2, Waite, Goldstein, Ziebell, Mullett, Hrovat, Wood, B.Brown, Turner
St Kilda: Billings 2, Steven 2, Membrey 2, Bruce 2, Roberton, Acres, Sinclair, Gresham 

BEST
North Melbourne: Goldstein, Cunnington, Mountford, Gibson, McDonald, Ziebell
St Kilda: Ross, Sinclair, Roberton, N.Brown, Montagna, Geary 

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Macmillan (hamstring tightness) replaced in selected side by Anderson, Waite (left shoulder) 
St Kilda: Dunstan (calf) 

Reports: Nil
Umpires: Fisher, Schmitt, Fleer, McInerney
Official crowd: 26,107 at Etihad Stadium