JOHN Beveridge recalls Leigh Montagna as a 17-year-old like it was yesterday.

The talented teen impressed the former head of St Kilda recruiting and current recruiting advisor with his personality before football ability.

“I saw Leigh at Marcellin College one day,” Beveridge told SAINTS.com.au this week in the lead-up to Montagna’s 200^th game this Sunday.

“He wasn’t playing but he was with a group of boys. It may have only been seven or eight people, but I just detected that he was obviously the leader of this group.”

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Beveridge has an eye for this sort of thing, having worked in recruiting at the Saints for 30 years. But when he saw Montagna play later that year, he was delighted with what he saw.

“I can’t remember who it was against, but I saw him kick four on the MCG … he was very impressive,” he said.

“Leigh played for Victorian Metro in the Australian Championships in 2001. We as a recruiting staff were quite strong about him … we rated him as a second rounder and it has proven to be a very good pick.”

As it happened, Montagna was selected with pick 37 in the 2001 AFL National Draft. He joined Luke Ball, Xavier Clarke, Nick Dal Santo, Matt Maguire and Josh Houlihan in that year’s crop.

“We were happy to get Leigh at 37,” Beveridge said. “Sam Mitchell was taken by Hawthorn at pick 36 and we got Leigh at 37 and they’ve both had good careers.”

It didn’t take long for Montagna to break into Grant Thomas’ senior team, debuting in round six 2002 against Collingwood in the same game as Maguire.

While it took him two or three years to firmly establish himself in St Kilda’s best 22, Montagna’s two All-Australian selections and countless match-defining performances since justify Beveridge’s early confidence.

“He was a good player then, and is now. He could kick, run and tackle. So we’ve seen,” Beveridge said.

Montagna isn’t the only Marcellin College graduate who was selected at pick 37 from the Northern Knights however.

“As it turns out,” Beveridge said, “Jack Newnes was also taken at pick 37 after playing for Northern Knights and attending Marcellin College. It’s a remarkable coincidence.”

Montagna has been a constant key figure in St Kilda teams since 2006, playing 169 games out of the last 176. In this time, he has never missed two consecutive matches, and has finished in the top three in the Saints best and fairest on three occasions.