At a glance:

• Jack Billings says the growth of emerging talents Hunter Clark and Max King gives him "a massive buzz".
• The No. 15 talked about the expectations of being a high draft pick and how his journey shared several parallels with King.
• All three Saints will line up in the season restart against the Western Bulldogs.

Jack Billings knows talent when he sees it.

For the youngest member of the Saints’ leadership group, it’s the younger core of Hunter Clark and Max King which excites him most.

“Now with all these young guys coming through, as a teammate, it just gives you a massive buzz,” Billings told saints.com.au.

“I know Hunter’s going to be a great player for a long time, so it gives me a lot of excitement, and Max has clearly got a lot of talent, a lot of ability and a good head on his shoulders.”

It’s a considerable endorsement heading into Round 2, with both youngsters selected for St Kilda’s season restart against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday night.

While all three play very different roles for the team, all share the distinction of being selected as top-10 draft picks.

Billings was snared by the Saints with pick No. 3 in the 2013 draft, with Clark (pick No. 7, 2017) and King (pick No. 4, 2018) joining the ranks several years later.

But being part of an illustrious group inevitably brings its own share of additional scrutiny, pressure and external commentary.

King’s well-documented pathway mirrors the No. 15’s on all those fronts, and like Billings, features frustrating spells on the sidelines through injury.

“I haven’t specifically sat down with Maxy and just spoken to him about how it’s all been going, but he was in a similar position to me coming through the junior ranks with a bit of expectation to get drafted,” Billings said.

“Obviously he had the year out last year, but it’s a good a way to just allow him to settle down a bit and find his feet.

Billings was cut down by injuries in the early years of his career, with stress fractures in his shin as well as hamstring and quad strains preventing early continuity.

“I had a fair few injuries in the first couple of years of my career, so it was sort of managing that frustration and then playing good, consistent footy,” Billings said.

“I think because I had so many challenges with my body that was always my focus, so I was able to block out the noise.

“At the end of the day, if you know you’re doing everything you can and you try to be the best you can – a great teammate – that’s all you can sort of worry about.”

Meanwhile, Billings has taken a more active role in steering Clark to be one of the club’s most promising talents of the future.

The 21-year-old pinned down a spot on the half-back flank last season and has carried his class into an almost unrecognisable Season 2020.

“I speak to him a lot, especially at training and on game day around certain things and just around the club helping him out, and that will continue,” Billings said.

“I love the way he plays and the way he goes about it and I'm looking forward to the next few years playing with him.”

All three Saints will take the field for the Round 2 restart against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday, 14 June at Marvel Stadium.