First-year St Kilda skipper Jarryn Geary says he is happy to get his contract out of the way quickly and well before his current deal lapses so he can turn focus on the job at hand.

Geary took over the responsibility from the Saints’ longest serving captain, Nick Riewoldt, at the start of the year, after emerging off the rookie list to become one of the most reliable small defenders in the game.

The 29-year-old inked a one-year contract extension on Tuesday morning, tying him to the Saints until at least the end of 2019.

“It’s always good to get those things out of the way early,” Geary said at a press conference at Linen House Centre on Tuesday.

“It is really exciting to commit to the club for another couple of years and get that out of the way and be able to focus on the improvement of the team over the next couple of weeks.

“It hasn’t been really in the front of my mind, I’ve had other things that I’ve been focused on. Obviously the next two weeks is something that I’m really focused on and not looking too far into the future.”

Nearly one season into his time as St Kilda captain, Geary admits he has learned plenty in his first year in the role, most notably how to balance how much time he invests in others so his own preparation isn’t affected.

“I’ve learnt a lot (in my first year in the role), more about myself really and more about the preparation – making sure I’m invested in myself and invested in the other players in the team," Geary said.

“If you start putting too much investment into the other players you can sort of go away from your own preparation and not perform strongly, which you’ve still got to do.

“You’ve still got to perform really strongly as an individual when you’re in the leadership team or a leader of the football club. That’s the main thing that I’ve learnt; making sure that I’m still preparing strongly but still helping others as well.”