More than 1000 games of experience is about to walk out the door but the latest Sydney player to hang up his boots, Kieren Jack, is confident the club's next generation has what it takes to carry the torch.

Saturday's clash with St Kilda at the SCG will be Jack's 256th and last for the Swans, after joining 2012 premiership teammates Jarrad McVeigh, Heath Grundy and Nick Smith in announcing his retirement on Monday.

Kieren Jack laps up the glory after Sydney's 2012 AFL grand final win. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Coach John Longmire paid a glowing tribute to Jack, saying he had come into the club on days off to find the 32-year-old conducting video review sessions with the same young players who have regularly kept him out of Sydney's AFL team this year.

No matter the result this weekend, a bottom-four finish is certain for the Swans. This will be the first season they've missed the finals in a decade, but Jack - the club's best and fairest player in 2010 and an All-Australian in 2013 - implored his teammates to seize the moment ahead in the knowledge that the footy landscape can change in an instant.