'ST KILDA's 62nd captain' is a title Jarryn Geary believes he will never be completely comfortable with.

Geary started his career on the Saints' rookie list after being picked up in 2006 and has since established himself as one of the most underrated players in the competition, underlined by his second-place finish in last year's best and fairest (behind Jack Steven).

He follows on in the role from Nick Riewoldt, who skippered the club for a total of 11 years. Other greats to have held the role include 1966 premiership   skipper Darrel Baldock, Danny Frawley and Robert Harvey.

The 28-year-old said at Seaford on Wednesday that taking over the captaincy from Riewoldt felt a bit odd, but having the backing of his teammates was what counted. 

"(It doesn't sit) very comfortably, to be honest. I don't think it ever will, but I'll get used to it," Geary said.

"The main thing for me was the support from the playing group. 

"Those (legendary) names are pretty overwhelming so I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

It was a situation Geary never saw himself in. 

"There's been so many players come through the door. No-one probably rocks up thinking they're going to be captain of the footy club," he said. 

"I just wanted to forge my own way, work hard. That's what I feel like I've done, given myself every opportunity and then from there, I've obviously developed reasonable leadership skills.

"I'm really proud to be put in this position but it's not something I could foresee 10 years ago." 

Geary hopes to keep out of the limelight and does not see himself changing much, despite the new title. 

"I really enjoy not having that big profile. There are other blokes at the club that probably enjoy that more than me," he said. 

"I'll embrace that, that's fine. I'm going to be able to walk down the street and still be myself. I'll say g'day to everyone that says g'day to me."

His coach, Alan Richardson, said Geary stood out as the obvious choice, despite the likes of Jack Steven and David Armitage being strong alternatives. 

"The process was quite extensive, but in the end unanimous from player support. His peers voted really strongly that Gears should be our captain. That ultimately was endorsed by the board," Richardson said. 

"What you guys outside of our footy club wouldn't know is that 'Gears' is a really determined person that not only drives enormous standards personally, but drives his teammates. He's exactly the sort of person that we need to drive this group." 

Having started his career as a rookie gives Geary a perspective that someone such as Riewoldt, who was the first overall draft selection in 2000, may not have be able to provide, in Richardson's opinion.

"(Starting on the rookie list has) put him in a really good place to relate to many players on our list, whether it might be a young bloke who's not quite getting it done," he said. 

"We were able to hear Jarryn talk really strongly and at times aggressively to his more experienced teammates when he was miked up throughout the year. He's a strong person that puts the team first and doesn't mind at times being quite pointed with the way he communicates, so he's got great balance. He's got a terrific sense of humour.

"He's got a really strong edge to his leadership and that's exactly what we need at this stage. That was a real strength of Nick's and Jarryn certainly has that quality."

Set to begin his 11th season as an AFL player, Geary has become known as a resilient backman whose competitiveness allows him to match up on some of the competition's gun small forwards. 

He credits that trait to being part of a large family.

"I'm one of six kids and mum and dad are from big families as well so I've always been competitive in trying to fight for something," he said.