He knew, looking around at the start of summer, that he was surrounded by young midfielders and that it would be up to him to do even more of the hard work than usual. But he didn't need to think for too long about how he could best look after them, or show them what they needed to do.

"It's mostly about looking after your own backyard first," the St Kilda midfielder said. "You can't really start telling people what to do if you're not doing it yourself, so you've got to set the scene a bit and hope they all jump on board. For me, all that really means is cracking in, head over the ball, strong tackling, all that sort of stuff. But these guys get it. They're coming into the team and really wanting to make sure we win games."

Armitage knows how to notice these things. He felt the same way when he got to St Kilda at the end of 2006: ready to play, wanting to play, confident that he could play. The difference was, he had things left to learn: how hard he had to train, how well he had to recover, what he needed to eat, and all those little things. He arrived at the club just before it became a very strong one, and had to work those things out while also waiting for a chance. "I knew how much I wanted to play," he said, "but I still needed to work out how to get a game."

Armitage never wanted to be anywhere other than St Kilda, even given his long wait. He played 28 games in his first four years, was an emergency 11 times and missed out on making all three grand final sides. Being at a strong club could never feel like a bad thing; he always felt like he could and should be able to make the team and stay there. It's just that as soon as he did start to feel settled, his role began to shift. Armitage is only 26, but he is part of a young team that can't wait for Luke Dunstan, Jack Billings and others like they did for him.

To Armitage, the St Kilda midfield has changed slowly. First Brendon Goddard left, then Nick Dal Santo and at the end of last season, Lenny Hayes. But his coach saw something come over him when he realised Hayes really wasn't going to be there any more. "Lenny's biggest strength was Dave's biggest strength, and that's winning the footy. All of a sudden he was gone and it's 'righto Dave, it's your turn mate, you've got Luke Dunstan and Sebby Ross there, but you've got to be the one who puts Jack Steven, Jack Billings, Jack Newnes, Eli Templeton and all these guys into a bit of space,"  coach Alan Richardson said.

"He's an incredibly important player because he's an aggressive, physical player and because he plays that way in a team that's developing and growing. He's one of those players who can embarrass those around him into great effort because of the way he attacks the footy and we need him to be in there doing it all the time for us so that we can give Dunstan, Ross and all the others time to learn and get better at their craft.

"I think he could be one of the best inside mids in the game, that's how highly I rate him. If you combine being able to win the ball and being able to put pressure on the opposition when they have the ball, I think that's what he could become. He's not there yet, but he's getting closer and I think he has that potential."

Armitage doesn't mind the responsibility. He doesn't even really notice it. "What I've noticed with all the kids coming in is that they want to contribute and want to make a difference," he said. "You can tell they want to be the ones who lift the team to where we want to go, and that makes everything so much easier for us older guys. They're good players, but they're great kids. They're people that you want to do whatever you can to help out along the way."