Swans forward Ben McGlynn will play his 100th AFL game this weekend, and according to the 27-year-old, he’s loved every minute of it.

From the small country town of Dareton in western New South Wales, McGlynn fought his way from VFL football to an AFL rookie list, and is now a regular senior player for the Sydney Swans.

Known for his toughness on field and never say die attitude, McGlynn said he was thrilled to have found his place in the Harbour City with the Swans.

“It was a childhood dream to play and obviously at VFL level I didn’t really think that I could make it,” McGlynn told reporters today.

“I was fortunate enough to get a pre-season at Hawthorn and then impressed enough to get a rookie list spot.

“Now I’m grateful that Sydney gave me the opportunity to come up here and play regular senior footy and I’m glad that I’m running out this weekend for the Swans.

“I’ve felt that (coming to Sydney) has helped my football, and definitely life outside football up here is great and there is a great lifestyle and culture around the footy club as well.”

McGlynn, who arrived in Sydney three seasons ago after playing 44 games for Hawthorn, has become an important attacking player for the Swans and ranks in the top five goal kickers at the club this season.

He is also on track to recording his best ever year in front of goal, needing only four goals from as many games to equal his best goal-kicking result during an AFL home and away season.

McGlynn said he is relishing the opportunity to play an important role within the Swans’ senior squad.

“I’ve enjoyed every moment of it,” he said.

“It’s been great to have the opportunity to play regular senior footy and John (Longmire) and the coaches have really put confidence in me.

“They get you here to play a role within a team and not just to fill up a spot on the list.

“As a player if you’ve got that belief from the coaches then that goes a long way to believing in yourself and your ability on the field.”

McGlynn is set to notch up his milestone in one of the Swans’ biggest games of the season this weekend as the club take on Collingwood at ANZ Stadium.

The last time McGlynn was part of a winning side against the Pies, he was wearing the yellow and brown for the Hawks.

“There was one game at Etihad Stadium (when we beat Collingwood) and there were 50,000 supporters there under the roof,” he said.

“It’s always a good feeling to beat Collingwood, and hopefully we can do it this weekend.”

McGlynn said he hoped the Swans had made enough improvements to claim a victory over the Pies in front of a big Sydney home crowd this weekend.

“I think last year we got within eight points (the Swans lost by six points) and we’ve definitely improved, but they’re still one of the top teams in the competition,” he said.

“They definitely haven’t gone backwards and we respect that, but we know that we’ve improved as a team and we’ll go in this weekend and give it our all.

“It’s going to be a great game out there at ANZ and we’re looking forward to a big crowd turning up and hopefully we can get the four points this weekend.”