IN AN era where player turnover has never been higher, there have been a couple of constants you can always bank on seeing at the Casey Demons.

One is Jack Hutchins, the Rock of Gilbraltar at full-back responsible for ensuring the Demons have been one of the most frugal defences in the VFL for six and a bit seasons.

Hutchins, 29, arrived at Casey Fields in 2015 after 19 AFL and 43 NEAFL games as a foundation player at Gold Coast, on the recommendation of then-Melbourne assistant coach Ben Mathews and has been camped in the defensive goalsquare virtually ever since.

And while he will savour running out for his 100th VFL match against Sydney at Casey Fields on Sunday, it will be business as usual as the Demons hunt a 5-0 start to the season.

"It's a pretty big honour, knowing the VFL as it is structured, there's a lot of turnover (of players) each year, so it's something I'll be pretty proud of looking back on once my career is done," he said.

"It's one of those things you want to look back on rather than in the moment."

Hutchins said he had bought into what Mathews was selling as Paul Roos' coaching group was rebuilding Melbourne – a big part of which was strengthening the alignment with the Scorpions.

"I caught up with (Mathews) when I got back (to Melbourne) and he spoke about the alignment they were trying to build with Casey and that appealed to me, so I went and had a couple of training runs," he said.

"They'd just appointed 'Plappy' (Justin Plapp) as coach as well and it just felt like a good fit at the time, so I took that on board and I've stayed there ever since.

"I don't think the alignment was working all that well, so they were putting an emphasis on changing that and I bought into that and tried to change a few things with the culture, which I look back on and am pretty proud of."

It didn't take long for Hutchins to make his mark at Casey, being appointed captain in 2016, and he proved an inspired choice, winning the best-and-fairest and leading the Scorpions into Grand Finals that year and again in 2018 in his three seasons in charge.

"Being able to be captain of the club was a huge honour for me," he said.

"I'd like to say we’d been able to get over the hurdle for that 2016 and 2018 Grand Finals, but we just couldn’t get there in the end.

"It has just been a fantastic experience and I think it has shown in my football just how much I've enjoyed it and trying to get the best out of myself.

"I had advice early on in my career to play the highest standard you can for as long as you can, so I always took that model in … and the standard of football at VFL level certainly does that, competing with guys who are full-time on AFL lists and that’s what I've really enjoyed.

"(I also enjoy) bringing guys up as well. I've been through the AFL system, so to see guys develop in the way that gives them that chance - and Casey has been really good in that sense - being able to have guys drafted not just to Melbourne but to other clubs as well.

"Bayley Fritsch, Tim Smith, Declan Keilty, Oscar McInerney up in Brisbane, you see those guys finally get the opportunity after working so hard … to get recognised and get the opportunity in the big league.

"I've just loved the ride so far, it’s been a fantastic journey and it's something I'll look back on quite fondly."

Hutchins is hopeful the Demons can finally take the next step and deliver a premiership this season, but he acknowledges the many unknowns in the new-look competition.

"It is a really good feeling in the playing group at the moment, especially in the alignment with Melbourne with the seniors doing so well," he said.

"There’s a little bit of unknown this year and we've seen it in that the game this week was postponed originally, but I think if we've got the right group and the right mindset around the place we'll just keep ticking things off and that will take care of itself and hopefully give us a good chance to see how far we can go later in the later in the year."