St Kilda Captain Nick Riewoldt has revealed it was important for the club to add reigning Trevor Barker Award winner Jack Steven to the leadership group in order for the Saints to continue to bridge the gap between the old and young at Seaford.

During his time at St Kilda, Steven has preferred to let his football do the talking for him, opting to keep out of the limelight that typically goes with being a star in the AFL.

But with the club peering towards the future, and a time without Riewoldt at the helm when Sean Dempster and Leigh Montagna were leading the way, the captain explained it was the right time to include Steven in the mix and develop his leadership prowess.

“I think the really encouraging part of the whole process and the conversations with Jack is he wanted to know why (we wanted him in the leadership group)? Why was it important for him to come into the group?” Riewoldt told reporters on Tuesday.

“I think he understands the influence he has over the rest of the playing group is so important to us from a strictly on-field perspective because he’s our best player.

“So for him to be able to develop and grow his leadership skills, while we’ve still got some really experienced guys around we thought was really important for the group to move forward.

“We’ve got a really young list, to keep getting guys in there and building their experience is really important to us. Once we had that conversation I think he was really comfortable with it.”

Steven’s elevation to the leadership group comes on the back of the most defining year in his career.

The 25-year-old midfielder pledged his future to the Saints by inking a five-year contract extension, as well as winning his second best and fairest, establishing himself as one of the more damaging onballers in the game.