On the eve of his 250th game Hawthorn skipper Jarryd Roughead shared a few thoughts about his milestone, his career, the game and his health with Ashley Browne.

On whether he still calls himself a key forward…

"I think with how the team is now, I understand we're not going to win another premiership with me parking myself in the goal square with everyone kicking it to me and me kicking 70-80 goals a year. With 'Schoey' (Ryan Schoenmakers) in there it allows me to play that role further up the ground and I guess if I'm having a down day as a forward you can go into the midfield and make an impact there. I'm probably a utility now and the beauty of our team is that we have five or six who can play multiple roles. "

The captaincy?

"I'm having a ball doing it. The last few weeks, I'm starting to feel like I am the captain now. Not that I wasn't before, but it feels like a new group, not 'Hodgey's (former skipper Luke Hodge) group. A new team going forward."

On the poor start and the stirring second half of the season…

"It wasn't as if we had 12 weeks of bad footy, because we had some good wins in there, but we get to the midseason break and we looked at some stats and what was going on and decided we can be a lot better if we change a few things. Since then the worst we have done is lose one game by three points. We played the top team twice, Geelong who were third and Sydney, the most in-form team in the competition. We must be doing something right because they're the teams most likely to win the flag and we're competing with them."

On his career to date…

"I don't feel blessed, at least not yet. Once you're set and done I will, but for now I'm focused on winning another flag. The next goal is to win one more, then that's one more than 'Lewy' (former teammate Jordan Lewis) and one more than 'Mitch' (former teammate Sam Mitchell). I'll be quick to let those guys know. The fact you are doing it here, at the same club for 13 years – it has been pretty special."

On the favourite of his four premierships…

"I've always said you don't get the chance at revenge much, so to beat Sydney in 2014 was special, after they beat us in 2012. That was the one I enjoyed the most, with all the storylines such as Bud going to Sydney, them being the form side and then being able to do what we did on the day. So that made it the most enjoyable one. But it's hard to try and separate four flags. A lot of guys want to play in just one, so to be able to say you can pick a favourite, well, it still doesn't feel right."

Roughead and Lewis celebrate the 2014 premiership together. Picture: AFL Photos





His peak as a player…

"You feel like you're at your peak if you're making a contribution to a premiership side. They say 26 to 32 for a key forward and I was 26 in 2013."

How long does he have left…

"I'm contracted for two more years after this and that takes me to 32. Who knows? It depends where the club is at and where I am. I said after I did my Achilles in 2011 that it felt like a mid-career break. I was 24 then and in three years' time we might look back and say that having last year off was good for my footy, not that you would want to go through anything like that. "

On playing 250 games…

"To play even 200 at an AFL club is pretty good, but now I don't want to finish on 250. I want to win another premiership. Hodgey just played his 300th so maybe I can get there."

On having the same coach, Alastair Clarkson, for his entire career…

"Not many people can say they've had the same coach their whole career. (Teammate) James Frawley has had eight. That's what you appreciate. He's always offering new challenges and new ideas. He's a mate but his goal is to win another flag as well, and he'll let you know if you're in his way."

On best mates Lance Franklin and Jordan Lewis leaving the club…

"As a Hawthorn fan, you'd say it would be nice for all three of us to finish at the same club, but look at the circumstances under which they left. 'Bud' got a life-changing deal and 'Jord' got three years he probably wouldn't have got here, so you begin to understand that footy's a business more than anything. Once you take the emotion out of it, that will all be forgotten."

On playing against Buddy…

"For two hours, you go as hard at him as you want but straight afterwards you don't hold a grudge. You're there to win. You say things to get in their head. At the SCG this year he asked the umpire where the mark was; I played with him for nine years and he never once asked where the mark was, but he was just trying to build up the hype of kicking this miraculous goal, which he then did. So, after that, you've got nothing to say to him, so he charges at you and you look like the idiot. When he kicks special goals you just sit back and watch and can still appreciate what he does."

Roughead and Franklin get reacquainted in round 18, 2014. Picture: AFL Photos





On how he manages his health…

"Every three months I have a full body scan then see the oncologist that afternoon. I'm not anxious at the time, but after the scan you have a four-hour window so you just have to wait it out. You do have the 'what if' question in the back of your mind, but it's not like I'm thinking I'm going to be crook again, because I feel good. My energy levels are fine, but you just have to go through these scans, remembering that that's what picked it up in the first place."

On the universal love and affection directed his way last year during his cancer battle…

"I just remember the enormous number of people. Kids from everywhere, grandmas… you'd go to treatment and you'd feel like the poster boy. People would go up to you in the wards and give you a big hug and things like that. You don't want to be the poster boy, but then you read in the paper how many more people will be able to get the drugs I was on. It has been made available for everyone and can save more lives than before, which is good."

On his wife Sarah…

"She's been a rock. We were married in January 2016 and then a few months later you tell her this. She'd just started a new job and we were renovating the house. She's been unreal. It's been emotional at times but we have got through it and hopefully we can sit back and enjoy the footy from here."

On playing Richmond in his 250th game…

"I got told I was going to go there in the (2004) draft, but I'm pretty happy with how it ended up. 'Dimma' (coach Damien Hardwick) and 'Cotch' (skipper Trent Cotchin) have got them going, but we've been playing the best teams in the last few weeks so hopefully we can go in there on Sunday and get the job done again."

Don't miss the feature story on Jarryd Roughead in this weekend's edition of the AFL Record, on sale at all grounds for $5.