ST KILDA has opened talks to re-sign Jarryn Geary as the tough half-back prepares to play his 100th game, against Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday.
A rookie success story and a strong leader, Geary has emerged as an important part of the Saints' developing list, and talks to extend his contract beyond 2014 are progressing well.
As one of just three players aged between 25 and 27 to have played this year, the 25-year-old provides a crucial link between the Saints' veterans and their exciting youngsters.
And with a long-term successor to captain Nick Riewoldt yet to emerge, Geary sits in the Saints' leadership group with the potential to take on the top job one day.
"After finding my feet a bit as a leader last year, this year is about helping the older guys who have been in there for a while," he told AFL.com.au ahead of his milestone game.
"It's not necessarily about having more impact on game day and taking away from them, but just little things around the club that make their lives easier.
"Whether it's following up with a young guy who played VFL on the weekend, or going to the VFL to watch those guys, it's lessening the load on the senior guys."
Recruited with pick No.57 in the 2007 NAB AFL Rookie Draft, Geary took the hard road into the AFL system, and he remains unheralded for a player who has finished fourth and sixth in the Saints' past two club champion awards.
After playing 44 games in his first four seasons, the turning point in his career came at the end of 2010, when he was a Grand Final emergency for the third time.
"I did the warm-up for all three of them, so it was pretty hard watching the boys run out and just as hard watching them play," he said.
"I think I was a reasonable part of it during the year, playing 15 games in 2009 and 19 games in 2010, so to get the end of the year and find myself on the sidelines, I had to find the reason why."
A lack of consistency was the reason Geary was left out of the 2009 and 2010 deciders, and he was told he often stood back and watched his teammates lead the way in games.
"It was a matter of backing myself in and having the mindset of cracking in every week for the whole game rather than bits and pieces," he said.
"I got the feedback that, 'When you're playing VFL you're really going in and getting the ball, and in the AFL you're sitting back and watching someone else do it'."
It's a criticism that cannot be levelled now at Geary, who has done a lot of heavy lifting in the team's 3-3 start to the season, pushing into the midfield when needed.
Indeed, consistency has become a feature of his football, playing 55 of a possible 58 games since returning from a broken leg in 2011.
He said the tough road taken as a rookie had shaped him as a player, with hard-working pair Steven Baker and Jason Blake two ex-teammates he looked up to.
"They're similar types who have had to work really hard to get everything out of themselves to have great careers," he said.
"You look at the really good players like Lenny (Hayes) and 'Roo' (Riewoldt) because they're champions of the game, but you also look at the blokes who have had to work really hard.
"I think I've taken just as much from them."
