WHEN Marty Mattner left Adelaide at the end of the 2007 season and joined the Sydney Swans, he had two goals - to play more matches and to feature regularly in the finals.

Heading into Friday night's semi-final against Hawthorn, it's fair to say both have been accomplished.

Mattner is the Swans' Mr Reliable in their backline, playing 92 of a possible 93 games since leaving the Crows, missing just one match with a corked thigh last season.

Friday night against the Hawks will also be his sixth final in the red and white.

"When I left Adelaide, I thought the opportunity I had in Sydney was great," Mattner told afl.com.au shortly before the Swans boarded a flight for Melbourne.

"The opportunity to play in finals, that's what you play footy for, and I've done that three out of the four seasons in Sydney.

"I wanted to play more footy and I wanted to play finals, so it's been great.

"It was a great decision to come up here."

Something else Mattner would love to do is continue deeper into September than he has so far with the Swans.

The 29-year-old played in two preliminary finals with the Crows, but is yet to get that far since moving to Sydney.

History keeps repeating itself for Mattner with the Swans, winning elimination finals in 2008 and 2010, only to lose their semi-final the following week.

After winning last week's elimination final against St Kilda, he hopes to break that streak against Hawthorn at the MCG.

Last year, the Swans lost their semi-final to the Western Bulldogs by just five points and Mattner believes that experience will help against the Hawks.

"We've spoken about it the last few weeks, the opportunity we have," Mattner said.

"(Last year's semi-final) is a long time ago, but I just remember we were basically in it for the whole game and just weren't good enough at the end to win the game.

"But I think that helps. I think you get experience from that.

"Last week was a great win; St Kilda came back at us in the third quarter, and all the young guys stood up and played really well in the last quarter to get us the win."

Mattner's durability is all the more impressive considering the way he plays his football.

On of the Swans' most athletic defenders, he covers a huge amount of territory during games and is particularly adept at spoiling and breaking up marking contests.

Mattner thanks the Swans' staff for helping him stay fit, but adds that it's not hard to get up for games at this time of year.

"I think the club are pretty good at making sure guys are ready and fit and rested up for the games," he said.

"And this time of year the weather's great - September, MCG on a Friday night.

"Training was really good this week for the boys, so I think this time of year you just get a bit of extra bounce in your step too."

Mattner, who feels 2011 has been his most consistent year, is part of one of the AFL's most resilient defensive units.

Rhyce Shaw has also played all 23 games this season, while Ted Richards (22 games), Heath Grundy (20), Alex Johnson (19) and Tadhg Kennelly (18) have played the majority of matches.

Grundy is sidelined by glandular fever, but Lewis Roberts-Thomson slotted into the backline last week and it didn't miss a beat, helping to hold the Saints to just eight goals.

Mattner also thinks some of the Swans' youngsters have provided a real lift.

"I think there's a real belief in the team," he said.

"All the young guys, like Luke Parker, Sam Reid, they've played a lot of footy and played really well.

"Sometimes they've been the ones that have actually kept us in games or won us games.

"So that experience for those guys has been great and I guess you get a lot of confidence from the young guys too when they play well."