Co-captain Kieren Jack never imagined he would reach his 200-game milestone when he was first recruited to the Sydney Swans.

The 29-year-old was recruited to the Swans through the 2005 rookie draft before eventually making his debut in Round 6, 2007.

He would go on to play just two games that season as he developed his game as a defensive back pocket.

Now one of the elite midfielders in the competition, Jack is preparing for his 200^th game when the Swans take on the Cats on Friday night.

“It has been an amazing achievement from where I started off,” Jack said.

“I was a development player, back pocket in the reserves and that was where my role would possibly end up.

“Through work rate and learning off some senior players to buy into the processes of this Club it has taught me a lot of things.”

Hard work and a commitment to improve has seen Jack rise through the Swans’ ranks – and that determination continues as the No. 15 strives to get better in each game he plays.

“There are still plenty of areas that I can continue to improve on, and that is one of the lessons that I learnt from this Club, that it is all about continual improvement,” he said.

“One of the things we instil in our young players is the defensive side of the game and it was something that was natural to me as a young player.”

“That role as a tagger suited me at that time but from there I have been able to learn some different parts of the game offensively to be able to combine the two.”

The co-captain said he had learnt many lessons from his older teammates during his early years that he now tried to implement through his captaincy.

“You learn through experience and you learn off some of the older players,” Jack said.

“Brett Kirk would always stand up under pressure and you admired that in what he did, so it is a trait you eventually want to get to.”

“I know all the leadership players put it on ourselves in the big moments to stand up.”

Friday night’s match against the Cats looms as another big challenge, with Geelong second on the ladder having won all of their home games so far this season.

The Cats’ star-studded midfield includes the likes of Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield, and Jack says it will be important for the Swans midfield to spread the workload.

 “It will be a combination of our midfield versus them, just as their midfield isn’t reliant on two players ours isn’t reliant on two,” he said.

“Both midfields bat pretty deep and I am sure we will be changing and swapping between each other fairly regularly.”