JARRYD Roughead has assumed the role of “big brother” as Hawthorn prepares to embark on a fourth-straight flag campaign.

The star forward has not played a game this season after a preseason knee injury and a recurrence of melanoma, which required 12 months of immunotherapy treatment.

Having played in four premierships himself, Roughead said he has been offering some advice to the younger Hawks who are yet to play in September.

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And his biggest piece? Enjoy it.

“I’m just there to help out any of these young boys that haven’t been part of a finals series,” Roughead said.

“Obviously I’ve got the knowledge from the last few years and some of these guys that have come in haven’t played a finals series, so in a sense, I’m like a bigger brother to these guys.

“You just tell them to enjoy it, because who knows if they’re going to get back there again? You don’t want to overstress and worry, but at the same time you want to sit back and soak in a finals campaign.

Jarryd Roughead is acting as a mentor for the young Hawks. Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Corp Australia

“The pressure and the media scrutiny becomes a lot more, but if you can soak it up, that goes a long way to playing good footy as well.”

Roughead has been sitting in the coaches box in recent weeks and said it has given him a whole new perspective.

“It’s very interesting,” he said on Gold FM.

“Clarko will ask questions — what am I seeing or what do I think. Same with Brett Ratten, who is our forwards coach.

“It is a lot easier to play AFL footy from the box.”

The 29-year-old said he has now completed 12 weeks of treatment and will soon have a scan to indicate how well it is working so far.

But he admitted he has had his fair share of “ups and downs”.

“(I’m) good. I’ve been through 12 weeks of everything so far, and everything’s going well,” he said.

Jarryd Roughead knows how to perform in finals. Source: News Limited

“I finished the third and fourth bout of initial treatment and we look forward to a scan in the next couple of weeks to see how everything’s worked out.

“(After) the first one I wasn’t too bad. That was when I was lucky enough to go away (to the NBA Finals). But after the second and third one, you do notice it a little bit. You have your ups and downs, obviously. This stuff that’s going into your body is poison, I guess.

“The one that I’m on is pretty aggressive early days. It’s hopefully doing its job.

“It’s unfortunate that you have to go through this, but if some people can take inspiration from it, then that’s good.

“There’ll be scans, but all signs are positive and that’s what we want. And that’s what I’m expecting.”