Jack Steele arrived at Linen House Centre with his foot in a moon boot last November, unable to take it off before Christmas.  He joined the main group at the end of January, played in the JLT Community Series a month later, before lining up in Round 1 for the first of 20 appearances in his first season at St Kilda.

It was far from the ideal preparation for the inside midfielder. But given what he produced on the back of a limited pre-season, and in a new environment away from home, Steele’s midfield coach, Adam Kingsley, believes the former Greater Western Sydney midfielder only scratched the surface in 2017.

“I think he’s going to jump to another level pretty quickly, based on the fact he came back out of shape due to off-season surgery last pre-season and wasn’t able to join in training until the end of January,” Kingsley told saints.com.au ahead of the Saints’ return to pre-season training next week.

“There were a lot of challenging factors for him this year – new club, new state, trying to build relationships, trying to learn the game plan, trying to fit in and trying to settle into Melbourne away from his girlfriend and his family – but the way he was able to handle himself and perform was really impressive.”

Despite the delayed start to his maiden summer in Seaford, Steele made the most of his opportunities during the winter, averaging 22.1 disposals, 10.5 contested possessions and 3.9 clearances per game.

Although it was his pressure numbers that leapt off the page. He was ranked second in the competition behind Scott Selwood for tackles (7.9) and third for pressure points (63.8) behind Selwood and Dayne Zorko.

And it was that aggressive, team-first brand that saw Steele win the trademark award at last month’s Trevor Barker Award, which is named after another Canberra product in former St Kilda champion midfielder Lenny Hayes, who coached Steele at the Giants.

“His ability to play a strong, aggressive brand of footy and his ability to play team-first footy stood out this year, particularly on field and then his ability to do the right thing off the field was really strong too,” Kingsley said.

“To put it simply, Jack makes his teammates better on and off the field through his work.

“His tackle and pressure numbers are elite – he’s in the top two or three in the competition for both those numbers. So from that perspective, he does exactly what us and his teammates need him to do around the ball.

“He’s tough and very, very clean under extreme pressure – his hands and his kick under pressure are extremely good.

“We think he’s going to become a very good player; he’s got all the attributes that suggest he’s going to be able to do that.”

Steele will report for pre-season training next Wednesday with the rest of the Saints’ first to fourth-year players, which will include his close mate and new recruit Logan Austin, who landed at the club during the trade period in October.

Lenny Hayes Players Trademark Award

When you mention the name Lenny Hayes, you immediately think of tough, courageous, selfless, team first and this is exactly what this award stands for. Each week the playing group present the game ball to a player who has stood tough for the team culminating with this award being presented to a player who has upheld the values of the ‘Saintsman’ trademark.