It is the most famous guernsey at the St Kilda Football Club, but the Number 10 hasn’t been seen in action for exactly 150 games.

When Nathan Freeman runs out onto Etihad Stadium, he will be the first Saint to don the famous number since Steven Baker wore it in the last home and away round of 2011. It was then allocated to Daniel Markworth, whose short career was plagued by knee injuries, and then Nathan Freeman.

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That seven-year phase is the longest time the Number 10 has been absent from senior team sheets.

Bakes was one of seven Number 10s to win the St Kilda Best and Fairest, and joined a long list of champions, characters and even a Test cricketer.

Steven Baker wore it with honour in 155 games across 10 seasons, but even that was well short of Carl Ditterich’s 203 appearances in 13 seasons, which was punctuated by his first three-year stint at Melbourne.

The No.10 was “retired” in 1973 and 1974 before it was allotted to Bruce Elliott in 1975, but he didn’t play a senior game. Ditterich returned in 1976 and ended the three-year break for the guernsey that was its longest absence up until now.

Carl Ditterich represented the No. 10 with distinction for 13 seasons

In 1915, the jumper was worn by the famous Roy Cazaly for a season, but its true folklore began in 1929 when an untried young forward from Wagga was handed the jumper for his first game.

Bill Mohr went on to enjoy a mighty career spanning 13 seasons. The first Saint to score 100 goals in a season, he was the club’s greatest full-forward before Tony Lockett.

Keith Rosewarne first wore the jumper in 1946 and heralded his arrival with a Best and Fairest win. After Rosewarne’s departure, Neil Roberts was elevated from Number 33, and in 1958, he won the Brownlow Medal, the high point in a storied career.

In later years, Roberts’ son Michael “inherited” the jumper.

From 1986, it was bestowed upon ruckmen Warren Jones, Paul Harding and Darren Flanigan. After Flanigan’s sole season at the club, it was handed to a young bloke from the under-19s – Peter Everitt.

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Like Ditterich 30 years earlier, the kid made a stunning debut and went on to win a Best and Fairest.

Everitt, Ditterich, Rosewarne and Mohr had all been brand new to league football when they first wore the number 10.

Along the way, it was also worn briefly by Sam Loxton, a dual sportsman who was part of Don Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles.

It is a special jumper, proven when it was briefly handed to a battling ruckman David Granger in 1979, and after just a single game, it was retrieved and he was allocated Number 37.

Special talent is almost a prerequisite for the famous Number 10, and hopefully, it will bring luck to Nathan Freeman.

After such a tough run, he deserves a break.