Jade Gresham is beginning to do something special every week. With poise, composure and class beyond his youth, the budding small midfielder-forward is attracting attention, particularly from St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson.

Twice on Saturday night he did something that dazzled. Firstly, he baulked Patrick Dangerfield in a manner the Geelong superstar would have been proud of.

And then when the game was in the balance, the teenager ran back with the flight, gathered the ball deep in the pocket before sidestepping Tom Lonergan and snapping a stunning goal to reduce the margin to under a goal in time on in the final quarter.

Buoyed by his pupil’s ability to perform under pressure, Richardson is confident that Gresham is going to play a large part in St Kilda’s future.

“He’s going to be a really good player for us for a long time,” Richardson told reporters in his post-match press conference on Saturday night.

“He’s one of those guys that can make something out of nothing.

“That goal was pretty special given the moment, the pressure and what he had to do to score. He’s got that in him. He can also do some pretty special things at times.”

While the 18-year-old has spent the bulk of his infancy playing as a small forward, he was recruited from the Northern Knights as a midfielder, renowned for his ball winning ability.

Richardson says Gresham’s time in the middle will come in due course, where his toughness and class will set him up to prosper.

“He’s going to end up playing a bit more time in the midfield. He’s got enormous composure. He’s a very classy player. He’s very tough,” Richardson said.

And while Jacob Weitering, Darcy Parish, Caleb Daniel, Callum Mills and Christian Petracca have attracted the lion share of Rising Star discussion, Richardson explained that Gresham’s defensive game, which goes unnoticed externally, is as good as his offensive game.

“He’s often featured very heavily internally in terms of what we rate defensively, so that to some extent goes unnoticed,” he said.

“We’re pretty solid with our pressure as a team and we’re pretty consistent with that and ‘Gresh’ plays a big part in that.”

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