RETIRING Sydney Swans skipper Brett Kirk hopes his hard-won career will serve as an inspiration to others trying to achieve their lifelong dreams.

Kirk, 33, will play his final game at the SCG against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night, farewelling the Swans faithful who have followed his every step in a 12-year career.

It was a glorious career that almost never was, after he was cut from the supplementary list at the end of 1998 before earning another chance.

Three years later, Kirk was set to be delisted at the end of 2002 before former skipper Stuart Maxfield pushed for incoming coach Paul Roos to give him one last opportunity.

"If I sit back and think about my career and the ups and downs and the way I've gone about it and the way I've played with my heart … I think not only people in footy but other people can get inspired by not giving up," he said on Tuesday.

"There are a lot of people out there who succeeded in all walks of life just because they never gave up on what they wanted to do.

"I just always had a burning desire to play AFL football and nothing was going to get in my way.

"There are plenty of [successful] people … who have been kicked in the backside like I was but with me, deep down inside, I was always going to make it."

Kirk said the SCG would always hold a special place in his heart, having experienced so many of his fondest footballing memories on the ground.

He nominated Michael O'Loughlin's games record-breaking match against Fremantle in 2007 and the 2005 semi-final win against Geelong, in which Nick Davis booted four last-quarter goals to seal a thrilling victory, and as his favourites.

"When Davo kicked that goal to put us over the line, it felt like the grandstand was going to fall over, there was that much noise," Kirk said.

"Just the feeling of being out there and being amongst your mates and putting it all on the line and getting the win - they were probably the two standouts."

Kirk will be on the field on Saturday night with former teammate Barry Hall, with whom he shared much of the Swans' success, but he said the Bulldogs forward would be just another opponent.

"You could put anyone out in that other side and I'll be going a hundred miles an hour. It's just the way I go about things, no matter who it is," he said.

The prospect of filling the space in front of a leading Hall held no qualms for Kirk: "If he puts one in my back, I'll keep standing there."

The Swans co-captain said he was delighted to have the chance to finish his career playing in his seventh finals series, but it was more important to him that the culture established at the Swans in his time would be continued.

"There's a lot of youth coming through but geez, we've unearthed some gems this year. The guys who have come from different clubs have really given something to the Sydney Swans Football Club and they've really embraced what we're all about," he said.

"It's more about the legacy I've left for the footy club and the way I've gone about it, the way I've presented myself and the way I've played footy.

"Hopefully I've been able to give to the other players, and especially the leaders, that I can walk away thinking that I've been able to give something to them that they can carry on."