HAWTHORN veteran Sam Mitchell says he’s had a good chance to reflect on his career this week ahead of his 300^th game on Sunday against Richmond at the MCG.

Speaking to the media today at the Ricoh Centre, Mitchell said becoming the seventh player in Hawthorn’s history to play 300 games was an opportunity to reminisce about what has taken place in his career so far.

“(Reaching 300 games) is a good chance to reflect – you don’t get the chance to do that too often with the week-in, week-out nature of AFL,” he said.

“Just being able to spend a minute thinking about where you’ve been, where you’ve come from, the people who have helped you achieve along the way and the fact you’re joining some elite company (is great).”

When asked about what he was most proud of in his time at Hawthorn, Mitchell was quick to talk about the improved culture of the club.

“If you go back to when Alastair Clarkson first came in and he completely changed the culture of the place – that took a long time and a lot of hard work,” he said.

“What’s best for our performance comes first, that was something which changed significantly - we really stripped it back to basics and we’ve built something which will hopefully last a lot longer than Clarko and I and be around the Hawthorn Football Club for a long time.”

Halfway through his 14^th season as an AFL footballer, it is the little things which motivate the four-time best and fairest winner from day-to-day.

“Lots of different things over the journey motivate you. One part of it from a footy point of view is just trying to improve the little things, the ability to continually be able to get better at your job is still highly motivating for me,” Mitchell said.

“The other aspect of it is I want to make my family proud – I have a young fella and I want him to work really hard at school and so I have to be a good role model and work hard playing footy.”

Sunday’s game promises to be a family affair for the on-baller, with Mitchell’s children Smith, Emmerson and Scarlett more excited about the pre-game build up than the game itself.

“Smith’s more interested in running through the banner. They’re bugging me every day asking if today’s the day they get to run through the banner, so they’re pretty excited,” Mitchell said.

“They just think it’s a big party, they don’t care that it’s anything to do with Dad, they’re just happy to get some party food.”

The four-time premiership player was quick to point out he was glad he didn’t have to share the week with another milestone player.

“We watch a highlight tape when a player reaches a milestone, I’m fortunate this time I’m one-out because I played my 200^th and 250^th with Shaun Burgoyne, so my tape had to follow his and his was a bit more impressive than mine,” he laughed.