“Silk” only tells half the story of Shaun Burgoyne’s stellar AFL career.

On Saturday night, the four-time premiership star will become only the 16th AFL/VFL player to reach 350 games.

As usual, he will be a key player for Hawthorn in their must-win game against Adelaide at the MCG.

Silk is an appropriate nickname, given Burgoyne’s sublime skills, but it sells him short on his fierce attitude.

Burgoyne had played 157 games for Port Adelaide, including their 2004 premiership, when he arrived at Hawthorn in late 2009 on crutches.

It took Burgoyne six months to recover properly from knee surgery and he has not looked back since, with 192 games for the Hawks and three more flags.

“He’s a ferocious competitor and Silk probably defies that a little bit,” said Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson.

“Everyone associates Silk with smoothness – he’s got that, for certain, in terms of the manner in which he plays.

“But he also has a great intensity about him in the competitive side of the game – he puts his body on the line and tackles fiercely.

“He works hard for his teammates.”

Clarkson said Hawthorn are just as proud of Burgoyne for his life away from football, as a father of four children and an indigenous role model.

While giving no guarantees, Clarkson is cautiously optimistic that Burgoyne’s wish to keep playing next season will be granted.

Apart from wanting to mark Burgoyne’s milestone with a win, this is crunch time for the Hawks – and for the Crows.

The two teams sit outside the top eight and Adelaide are mired in a three-game losing streak.

“It’s a four-point game, but pretty crucial in the overall scheme of things, in terms of where our sides want to go in the latter half of the year,” Clarkson said.

The Hawks dropped misfiring key forward Tim O’Brien and will look to Will Langford to help give their attack a different look.

Their scoring has dried up and they have not kicking more than 11 goals since round seven.

“We’re still getting lots of inside-50 opportunities, so we’re hopeful Langers might be able to help us … with our ball movement, our potency up front,” Clarkson said.