Hawthorn midfielder Josh Ward is set to feature in his 50th AFL match this Saturday afternoon against Melbourne at the MCG.

Selected by the Hawks with Pick 7 in the 2021 national draft, the 21-year-old has shown great promise across his 49 games in the brown and gold so far.

Since coming into the side in Round 1 this year, Ward has not missed a game, averaging 20.6 disposals, 3.9 clearances and 3.4 tackles.

Saturday's match will see Ward become the highest Hawthorn draft pick to reach 50 games since Xavier Ellis in Round 3, 2010.

Hawthorn Senior Coach Sam Mitchell congratulated Ward on his upcoming milestone at his press conference on Thursday morning.

“Wardy’s shown great resilience," Mitchell said.

"I think he got drafted early and got a lot of games. I had a really good conversation with him early in the year - he played a lot of footy in his first year and how much better he is now, but he didn’t start the season in the side.

"He’s had to build a little resilience and we knew that would be part of his journey at some stage.

"And certainly now it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere, does it?

"So I’m really pleased. Players get some knocks around... it's very rare that you get in and you stay in forever (Josh Weddle’s done that, he played his 50th last week without missing), but for most players, whether it’s through injury or form or playing some Box Hill games and Wardy’s been in that boat, so for him to get to 50 reasonably quickly still and be able to go from strength to strength in his game, I think we’ve seen growth in his football and he’s been able to put together a pretty good season so far.”

Catch Ward in his 50th game from 1.20pm on Saturday afternoon at the MCG, with the game also available to watch via Fox Footy and Kayo Sports.