NICK Riewoldt has thrown his support behind the next generation of St Kilda stars, suggesting players like Luke Dunstan and Paddy McCartin will be leaders of the club in years to come.

Following the announcement that the 32-year-old will skipper the Saints for a record 10th season in 2015, Riewoldt said that although his style of captaincy has matured, he remains as committed as ever to driving the club back into finals contention.

“Clearly we need to develop some young blokes within the club. We’ve been really strategic the last few years in the way the club has gone about their recruiting,” Riewoldt told SEN’s Morning Glory.

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“My style has always been one that leads by example and is pretty assertive and demanding of the group. However, I have had to pull it back a little bit and become more of that teacher [given the age and experience of our list compared to the Grand Final years].

“Someone like Luke Dunstan comes in, and as a 19-year-old oozes that leadership quality straight away. People are born with the quality but you really need to nurture and harness it as well.”

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The six-time Trevor Barker Award-winner welcomed number one draft pick Paddy McCartin to the club in late November via a Skype call, and since then has been delighted with the teenager’s attitude and work ethic.

“Paddy is a really impressive young man,” he said.

“Obviously he has immense footy talent to go as high in the draft as he did, but he’s a great young kid.”

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One of Riewoldt’s most revered traits is his resilience, a quality that the skipper saw in McCartin out on the track late last week.

“He popped his finger out at training the other day and looked like he was in a fair bit of pain,” he recalled.

“He came off, the doctor put it back in for him, and two seconds later he was out there leading out from full-forward and taking a big mark. He went back and slotted it. He’s a really tough kid and he will be a great player for the club for a long time.”

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For now, Riewoldt is  as devoted to providing the same sort of guidance to today’s emerging crop as he was afforded in the early 2000s.

“I’m very fortunate to have been part of that team when we’ve been challenging for premierships and I was fortunate as a young bloke to have Aaron Hamill, Robert Harvey and these leaders teaching me the way,” he said.

“It’s very exciting now with a great group of young kids, trying to teach them how to play footy.

“I’d love to be part of the group that starts a climb back up the ladder and challenges in the not too distant future.”

Riewoldt and Dunstan in last year's pre-season.

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