Some of the greatest players in the history of St Kilda Football Club have worn the sacred No. 4 guernsey. And now budding star Jade Gresham will join an exclusive clique that includes Tony Lockett, Darrel Baldock, Barry Breen and Andrew Thompson.

After an eye-catching debut season by the 2015 first round pick, Gresham has shuffled down from the No. 22 he wore across 18 games in 2016.

Humbled by the club's decision to allocate him the famous guernsey, Gresham is excited to return to a number he has worn for most of his football life.

“I’m pretty honoured and humbled to be given the No. 4. Some special players have worn it, I’m looking forward to wearing it next year,” Gresham told saints.com.au on Wednesday.

“I’ve worn that number for a lot of my junior career, I wore it at the Northern Knights and I’m just pumped to get the opportunity to wear it again.”

After reporting back for training at the start of November, Gresham has rolled up his sleeves in the early part of the pre-season, where he has already experienced the benefits of added exposure to the program.

“It’s good to be back and being able to do everything now, unlike last year where I was pulled out of drills in my first pre-season, so I’m feeling a lot fitter and stronger. I’m looking to build on that working towards NAB one.

“My focus this pre-season is to just build up my fitness. I’m really trying to get my fitness up by doing extras for conditioning and spending more time in the gym getting stronger.

“By starting a couple of weeks earlier than the five plus boys you get a little bit of a head start to attack the pre-season which is good. You feel like you’re getting fitter each session and just build on that.”