Known for his one per-centers and courageous second efforts, Swans’ defender Marty Mattner will play his 200th AFL game this weekend.

The South Australian, who was recruited to the Swans from Adelaide at the end of 2007, will reach the milestone in tomorrow’s game against St Kilda in Melbourne.

According to Swans’ team mate and fellow defender Ted Richards, Mattner is the type of player you want on your team.

“He’s courageous; he reads the play really well,” he said.

“He’s really underrated outside of the Swans but inside the Swans his role on game day is really respected and he’s just a really great guy to have down with you in defence.

“From my perspective, and I’m sure from Heath Grundy’s perspective, he definitely makes our job a lot easier.

“He’ll often unselfishly come off his opponent to help us out and often things like that aren’t really noticed by people outside of the club, but we definitely respect the role that he plays there.”

Richards said Mattner as a player was epitomised by his courage on the field.

Click on the video player above to watch more Swans team mates pay tribute to Marty Mattner ahead of his 200th game

“There have also been that many times this year where he’s put his body on the line and charged out in front of the big key forward and copped a big whack on the back of the head, and quite often you see him icing his shoulder on the Monday morning,” he said.

“But you know he’ll do it again the next week coming up and I think that’s just a great quality to have.”

Fellow defender Rhyce Shaw agreed that Mattner regularly goes the extra mile for his team mates.

“I think it happens every week; him flying across a pack or going back into a pack is one of the things I think of when I think of Marty’s game,” he said.

“That’s all he does - he puts his body on the line, comes across and saves my arse.

“He’s a very likeable guy and he’s a fantastic bloke and he’s the same off the field as he is on the field.

“He’d do anything for his team mates.”

Like Richards and Shaw, Mattner has found a place in the Swans’ defence after beginning his career at a different AFL club.

Shaw praised Mattner’s resilience in making a name for himself at the Swans after 98 games with the Crows.

“I don’t think we’ve really ever spoken about it, but I think we know what each other has gone through to get where we are now,” he said.

“For Marty to play 200 games, me and Ted and Marty know just how hard it is to get a game, initially with each of our old respective sides and now with the Swans.

“To play 200 games is a massive achievement and I’m really proud of what he’s been able to do.”