HE MAY be 36 years of age and entering his 19th season at the top level, but Hawthorn's Shaun Burgoyne doesn't plan on having his playing minutes 'managed' any time soon.
After having a couple of hamstring injuries and breaking his ribs last year, Burgoyne's yet to decide whether he will try to extend his career into 2020.
However, that doesn't mean the 358-game warrior, the oldest player in the AFL, will take it easy this season.
"I prepare to play every game, I do that every year," Burgoyne said.
We haven't spoken about having a rest ever in my career.
"We'll see how we go, how the team's going, how the body's going, but I mentally prepare to play every game."
Burgoyne's versatility will once again come to the fore this season.
He's prepared to play a variety of roles, as was shown in last week's intra-club game when he was given a surprise.
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"We had a trial match last week and I played on ball," he said.
"That was a bit unexpected, I was preparing to play in the forward pocket.
"A bit of everywhere I would've thought – forward, back, a bit of mid, just a week to week thing."
Burgoyne also said the calf injury that has disrupted Chad Wingard's pre-season shouldn't affect the star recruit's impact on the Hawks.
Wingard completed a light training session with some of the best indigenous players in the competition as part of the AFL/AFLPA Indigenous All Stars Summit in Adelaide on Monday.
The 25-year-old was involved in ball work and running as he builds up his training loads from a calf injury that will keep him out of Friday night's realestate.com.au AFLX tournament at Marvel Stadium.
He will also miss the Hawks' practice game against Carlton on Thursday but could be available for the start of the JLT Community Series.
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"He's training today, running and everything, so it's just about conditioning," Burgoyne said.
"He's been sore, so when they pull you out for one week, you've probably got to do two to three to get yourself back up.
"When he has trained fully, he's a star, so just looking forward to seeing him finish off the pre-season and get stuck into games."
Wingard played 147 games with Port Adelaide before requesting a trade to the Hawks at the end of last season.
"He's a genuine match-winner on his day, we've seen that," said Burgoyne, who is the vice-captain of the Deadly AFLX team.
"We're looking forward to him adapting to our style and taking his game to the next level, which he's capable of doing.
"He's a quality player."
Burgoyne said Wingard had already taken on a leadership role with the club's younger players.
"He's got a very good knowledge of the game and he speaks up," Burgoyne said.
"He's a two-time All Australian, so the boy can play, just passing that on to a lot of our younger players.
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"He wants to push up into the midfield at some stage in his career as well, so he's keen to learn.
"He's very experienced for a young guy."
