A MILESTONE match is usually an occasion for a player to reflect on and celebrate his career to date.

But Nick Riewoldt will not be spending the lead-up to his 200th game basking in the glory of his previous 199. Instead, he is portraying a business-as-usual approach to this Sunday's clash with Essendon.

"There's not too much time for sentiment in reflecting on that sort of stuff in footy nowadays," he said.

"Once we finished the game on the weekend, we've reviewed that and now the focus shifts pretty quickly to the opponent and we don't spend too much time focusing or reflecting on sentimental things."

Riewoldt might be trying to avoid letting emotion creep in to his preparation but he knows this week will be a bit different and he admits to hanging his hat on being a 200-game player for the Saints.

"The family will come along and a few friends and so forth. Really it highlights how quickly it goes. That's probably the thing," he said.

"When you start out there are 200-game players around the club and when I started it was Nathan Burke, Harves (Robert Harvey) and Stewart Loewe. You think you've got to play for an eternity to achieve something like that but it's gone so quickly.

"It's only a number but it's something that when I first started out I thought wouldn't have been at all possible. To have played 200 games for the St Kilda Football Club, one club, is something I'm proud of."

Even if for some reason Riewoldt didn't play another match for the Saints he would still go down in history as one of the club's all-time greats.

He has a club record five best and fairests to his name, including one in his first full season at AFL level, and has captained the Saints in 100 matches, behind only Danny Frawley and Darrel Baldock.

Throw in four All Australian guernseys, an AFLPA MVP and a NAB AFL Rising Star award and Riewoldt sits as one of the most decorated players in the competition.

But asked to name one particular highlight, the Saints skipper says he is most proud of being a part in the club's rise from wooden-spooners to an AFL powerhouse.

"I arrived when we were at the bottom of the ladder, so to be a part of the transition into one of the most powerful clubs in the AFL has probably been the highlight right the way through," he said.

"To start at the bottom and to be a part of a team that has been to the big dance the last couple of years has been pretty special."

It hasn't been all smooth sailing for Riewoldt since the Saints took him with the first pick at the 2000 national draft.

Few would forget the images of Brisbane Lions defenders Mal Michael and Chris Scott jumping into him after he injured his shoulder in the opening round of 2005, while it is almost a year to the day since he ripped his hamstring off the bone in a clash against Collingwood.

The 28-year-old says injuries are just part of the game, as the Saints have been reminded this week with Lenny Hayes' season-ending knee injury.

"It's one of those things that footy throws up. A pretty obvious example is what's happened to Lenny. Footballers are pretty resilient, particularly the ones who have been able to play for so long," he said.

"It's another really good challenge in front of us but it's all about attitude and I think what you've seen from Lenny this week is reflective of the entire group. There are going to be challenges thrown at us and it's about how you deal with them."

Football may have brought Riewoldt more than his share of public dramas and disappointments but he says life as a high-profile AFL player has been the perfect preparation for whatever the world has in store for him after his career has finished.

"I think footy sets you up in a wonderful way for life after football. It throws up so many challenges on and off the field," he said.

"Whatever you're going to do later on in life, whether you're a father, a husband, whatever work-wise, it puts you in a great position to attack the rest of your life."