IT WAS the moment that changed Hawthorn's history.

The club had lost the 2011 preliminary final. It had lost the 2012 Grand Final. Now, trailing to its bogey side Geelong by a significant margin in the 2013 preliminary final, the word 'chokers' was ringing in the minds of Hawks players as they gathered for Alastair Clarkson's three-quarter time address.

But Hawthorn had, in a unique way, planned for this very occasion. Four years earlier, when the club had traded for a hobbled Shaun Burgoyne from Port Adelaide despite serious concerns over his longevity and impact in the wake of a debilitating knee injury, it had done so for times like these.

This was his stage. This was his opportunity to justify Hawthorn's faith. As he prepares to become just the fifth player in AFL/VFL history to reach the landmark 400-game milestone seven years later on Saturday night, what happened next remains the moment Burgoyne will be best remembered for.

Twenty-four rugged disposals, three crunch-time clearances, six hard-nosed tackles and a cool, calm and collected goal that, according to Hawks legends themselves, altered the history of the football club forever.

"I've got no doubt about that 2013 prelim … we don't win that game if we don't have Shaun," Hawthorn's triple-premiership captain Luke Hodge told AFL.com.au.

"Sam Mitchell had a ripping game, but we were 20 points down against a side we'd lost to on 10 or 11 straight occasions at three-quarter time and who do you look to? You look to Shaun. I still have vivid memories of him kicking that goal, then running around with his arms out wide.

"You'd get him in a stressful situation and he was an easy-going bloke. You could always look to him as that mature head. A lot of people make a lot of rash decisions in those situations, but Shaun just seems to be composed when you do put something to him.

"There's no doubt if we lose that game, the rest doesn't happen. We got confidence from that and went on to win in 2013 and we realised what we needed to do in big situations. We were being touted as chokers and, without him, we don't win that game and we don't go on to do what we did."

Burgoyne's performance against Geelong, capped by his match-winning third goal of the night and his now famous 'aeroplane' celebration that followed, perfectly reflected the reasons why Clarkson was keen to bring the injury-plagued 2004 premiership star to the club in the first place.

He wasn't acquired by the Hawks to be the rollicking, do-it-himself midfielder he was at Port Adelaide. He was recruited to be the influencer, the footballer who would play the defining hand in the game's most pivotal moments.

His arrival has since proved a Hawthorn recruiting masterstroke. However, initially, it wasn't a decision that had immediately sold the club's premiership heroes of 2008. In fact, it was one that had forced Clarkson into an explanation in front of his leaders.

"When he came across, we had doubts about whether he could do the stuff that he used to be able to do … everyone was saying that his knees were shot and that's why Port didn't give him a long-term deal. They thought he couldn't recover from his knee issues," Hodge said.

"Clarko's message to us was that he wasn't going to ask him to go and be the best midfielder in the League, but we would be asking him to pinch-hit. We had a lot of strong personalities and a lot of strong players going through there, that's why we were able to be successful in 2008.

"But he was another piece of the jigsaw. He could play half-back, he could play half-forward, we always had Shaun Burgoyne sitting across one of the lines. If you needed to throw him in the middle, you did. If you needed a goal, you put him forward."

That special match-winning moment against Geelong was made all the more remarkable by the fact that many, both at Port Adelaide and across the competition, never thought Burgoyne would make it to 2013 in the first place.

Such was the grim situation facing a player then just 27 years of age when he went under the knife to repair a serious knee injury upon crossing to Hawthorn at the end of the 2009 season, there were genuine and legitimate fears over his future in the game.

A player with the potential to be anything he wanted during his time with Port Adelaide was close to being finished when he left the club with just 157 appearances under his belt. Forget about getting to 400, some didn't think he'd make half of that.

"When he left Port Adelaide he was barely training – he was seriously struggling with the knee injury – and I think mentally he was struggling to deal with that as well," Port Adelaide's 2004 premiership captain Warren Tredrea told AFL.com.au.

"The fact he's now lasted longer than some blokes who I thought never got injured, it's quite unbelievable and it's a credit to both himself and to Hawthorn. If you asked me at the time whether I thought he'd go on to play 400 games, I'd have said no way.

"I don't mean to be disrespectful, but Shaun was still pretty immature at that stage in terms of his football experiences. That's not being negative, that's just the journey he was on. He was facing a pretty degenerative knee injury and he was struggling to deal with that.

"But, clearly, Hawthorn got the best out of him and Shaun has been able to take care of himself. He's really matured as a person and it's full credit to him."

Shaun Burgoyne time in position

But that memorable Friday night in September 2013 was only one chapter of Burgoyne's incredible rise to 400 games, a journey that only four players – Brent Harvey (432 games), Michael Tuck (426), Kevin Bartlett (403) and Dustin Fletcher (400) – have been on before.

The first-round pick, drafted to Port Adelaide in 2000, kicked five goals in just his sixth game of AFL football. In his 67th game, he was playing as a lockdown back-pocket to claim the first of his four premierships. In his 83rd game, he was starting an All-Australian campaign as one of the League's most dominant and damaging midfielders.

That third chapter, as an explosive onballer, was brought to an abrupt end by his ongoing knee issues. It's a chapter often forgotten when telling the story of Shaun Burgoyne, but one that those at Port Adelaide believe is the chapter most worth reliving.

Forget the 'pick-your-moment' player who can, and does, do a bit of everything at Hawthorn. Those years between 2006-07 with the Power – where Burgoyne averaged nearly 20 disposals per game, while kicking 59 goals from 47 matches – genuinely put him alongside the very best in the competition.

"When we won the premiership and had been knocking on the door for a few years beforehand, Shaun was playing back-pocket for us and he was playing it like Gavin Wanganeen," Tredrea said.

"He'd play on his man, he'd beat his man, then he'd run off and launch. For us, when we won the premiership, he played on Jason Akermanis and he was arguably the most lethal footballer in the competition at that stage.

"But the beauty of him is that he's able to influence the game wherever he played and that's a special thing. In that 2006 year, we were clearly going through a rebuild … but Cox to Judd, if that was the No.1 combo, then Lade to Burgoyne wasn't far behind at No.2.

"He kicked bags of five goals for Port Adelaide in the early days, he also dominated for us off half-back, then we've seen at Hawthorn he's been able to be the pinch-hit midfielder when it's needed. For a guy who wasn't blessed aerobically, he's certainly been able to work on that area.

"But, make no mistake, his best football years were those 2006 and 2007 years. For me, playing with him – and I've seen him as a commentator as well – I still think his most complete individual seasons were those seasons. He'd streak out of stoppages and you'd just say to yourself, 'wow'."

Burgoyne always had the versatility, born from his power, strength, kicking and elite decision-making. That versatility was then made all the more evident when he started his career forward, won his first premiership as a defender, became an All-Australian as a midfielder, then claimed three more flags doing just about everything at once.

But the game's most versatile player? It's certainly worth making the case, argues Champion Data. According to the AFL's stats gurus, Burgoyne has spent the most minutes in his tertiary position of any player since 2005. Somewhat remarkably, even at 38 years of age, he's also still adding more strings to his bow.

Most versatile players (2005-2021)

Earlier this season, in what proved to be game No.391, Burgoyne was asked to line up in a tagging role to thwart the influence of Richmond's triple Norm Smith Medal winner Dustin Martin. That unwavering team-first commitment is the reason why many think Clarkson has opted to retain Burgoyne, when others – like Hodge, Mitchell and Jordan Lewis – haven't been so fortunate in the past.

"To be able to play any position you've obviously got to have ability, concentration and understand the game. Very few people can do all of that and very few people have the skills and the knowledge of the game to do that," Hodge said.

"He's also great for culture and he's great for the Indigenous boys who come through. You'll freely see photos of the Indigenous boys around his house with (wife) Amy and the kids. So, as far as culture is concerned, he's no-fuss and happy to do anything.

"He was the substitute last week for his 399th game, he came on and went straight into the centre bounce, then he pushed forward, then five minutes later he's in the backline. This is a bloke about to play his 400th game, who has covered three positions in the space of 10 minutes after coming on as the substitute.

"For someone to do it as smoothly as what he does, that's why Clarko and Hawthorn have kept him around. It says a lot to the young fellas who come through and want to play in their position and don't want to be anything else. If you've got a bloke who has played for 20 years and is willing to do that, it's a pretty good standard to set for anyone coming through."

For all of the surprises along that way as the player commonly referred to as 'Silk' finally reaches game No.400 – a milestone 21 years in the making – one stands out to his former Hawthorn premiership captain.

No, it's not overcoming the debilitating knee injury. No, it's not playing through the constant chopping and changing of his role along the way. It's a much more of a light-hearted reason to rib his old teammate, but one that perhaps explains why Burgoyne has ultimately been able to reach the extraordinary milestone he will on Saturday night.

"He's a bloke who hates change. In the AFL, you've got to have a very flexible mindset, but he hated any change to the structure. He's a player who would crack the shits if you changed the session and went to MSAC," Hodge laughed.

"Given how much older guys look for rest as they get to 30 and staff are looking to give them rest … because he didn't like change so much, (ex-Hawthorn fitness boss) Andrew Russell used to try to make him play through it and play pretty much until he dropped.

"He actually responded better to playing more football, rather than having a week off and changing his routine. That's so rare. No wonder he's still playing."