BRISBANE Lions coach Leigh Matthews labelled milestone man Simon Black "a delight" at the start of the week.

And according to midfield teammate Richard Hadley, the Lions playing group couldn't agree more.

Hadley has been fortunate enough to play with Black on football's biggest stage, experiencing premiership joy with his fellow West Australian product in 2003.

The public perception of Black is as an affable, generous soul - one Brisbane journalist refers to him in print as Simon The Likeable - and Hadley says that's right on the money.

"Blacky's an unbelievably tough competitor on the field and a really great guy off it - he's the kind of person that would do anything for you," Hadley explained.

"Out on the park, he can do anything at any time. In the 2003 grand final he was just brilliant, picking up 39 touches - it was pretty much the perfect game.

"He's amazing. He'll look like he's just cruising around but he almost always knows where the ball is going and reads the play so much better than everyone else."

While 28-year-old Black is preparing for his 200th game on Saturday night at the Gabba against Collingwood, 24-year-old Hadley, who has overcome a pair of knee reconstructions, is getting ready to take his games tally to 34.

That said, the pair sport more than a few similarities. Both players hail from the same WAFL club, East Fremantle, are adept at finding the ball in the clinches and arrived at the Lions as second round draft picks.

"When I first came over here from WA, I actually stayed with Blacky for a couple of weeks and that really helped me get settled," Hadley said.

"Just seeing what he did preparation-wise was great as well. You couldn't ask for a better person to learn from in terms of finding out how to get the best out of yourself in the AFL system."

The Lions have always been keen to state that milestones don't present any special motivation.

But Matthews said on Monday he hoped Black's entry into the 200-club could help stir up a "committed, pressured" performance, a view shared by Hadley.

"Obviously we just want to get back to playing good footy as a team," Hadley said.

"But 200 is a big milestone and it would be great if Blacky could celebrate it with a win."