AS THE AFL prepares to celebrate their contribution to the game, Hawthorn small-forward Luke Breust says the Hawks' Indigenous players are a vital part of the club's success.
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Breust, 24, on Thursday said the trio of Shaun Burgoyne, Cyril Rioli and Bradley Hill were a vital part of the club's recent success, as they prepare to return to Aurora Stadium this weekend.
"Shaun has been a great player for a long period of time and has done some amazing things for us over a long period of time, and Cyril, I just love playing next to him in the forward line," Breust said. "You just don't know what he's going to do himself, let alone the opposition, and Bradley Hill's run - along with Isaac Smith and Liam Shiels - is just so important to the way we structure up.
"If we can get it to the outside run of Hill, that's where we can hurt sides.
"They are really just an important part of the culture at Hawthorn, and they just bring that X-factor, excitement and they just have this enthusiasm for the game.
"Cyril is my favourite Indigenous player, and I just laugh sometimes at some of the stuff he does during the game."
Both the Hawks and this weekend's opponent Gold Coast will wear special guernseys.
Saturday's match will also be Breust's 100th match in the brown and gold.
Breust has two premierships, an All-Australian jumper, International Rules experience and a Rising Star nomination in his career, and he said "luck" had played its part.
"I'm pretty proud to have got to 100 games," he said.
"Some guys go through their whole career and don't play in grand finals or premierships, so I do consider myself very lucky to get drafted to a club like Hawthorn. It took me a few years to break into the team, but once I did I've just been trying to play my role each week."
Breust said the seventh-placed Hawks (4-4) wouldn't be taking the 17th-placed Suns (1-7) lightly and there would be a focus on starting the game strongly.
"We are still playing really good football, but there are patches in games which are really hurting us.
"When you look at the statistics, we are still going OK, but those lapses, if we can get that right, hopefully we can start to string some wins together and get into the top four."
Breust admitted that a missed shot at goal late in the thrilling grand final rematch last weekend is one that he has replayed in his mind.
After kicking 57.12 (including 29 straight), he has managed 19.12 this season.
"The night of the game, I did think about it quite a bit, and on Monday, I did go through the review to see what I actually did wrong," Breust said.
"I've just got to be able to get back to sticking to my routine and just back myself in (next time)."
Hawthorn officials are predicting a crowd of about 13,000 at a ground where it has won 19 of its past 20 matches.