JARRYD Roughead's end of a short conversation with The Age in the middle of the MCG yesterday was punctuated every few seconds by the subordinate clause "which is good".

Which is not surprising. Roughead just now is enjoying a phase of his football career that, to say the least, is good. Every other week, he plays with Lance Franklin, which makes for rich pickings: six goals against Collingwood last Saturday, five against Richmond the week before, 24 for the season.

Tomorrow, for a variation, he will be at the other end of the ground to Franklin, but alongside Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola. Hawthorn captain Sam Mitchell this week said the club saw Roughead as a future Jonathan Brown.

"I don't know about that," Roughead said. "But it's obviously good to play with the likes of Brownie and Fev, hopefully playing up in the forward line, feed off them and get some experience, which is good.

"Obviously, Brownie is a great player. He'd won three flags by the time he was 21. Just to be playing with him is a great honour."

A great relief will be to be at a safe distance from Franklin. It will bring back memories. "We played juniors against each other when he was a WA boy and I was Vic Country," Roughead said. "He was always talented. Everyone could tell he was going to be a good player."

The closest they came to one-on-one was the day Franklin played in the ruck. "I think they were a bit small, the WA boys," he said.

"We're pretty good mates. To play alongside someone like that is pretty good. He takes a couple of defenders, which can leave myself or a couple of the other boys open, which is good. When he's at his peak, he's a bit hard to stop.

"I'm looking forward to Saturday. He's the only one I'll be giving a bit of s--- to." Which is good, kinda.

Roughead, if he plays, will have to deal with a dynamic glossed over in pre-publicity, but in the past was not always good. In club football, two many tall forwards in one team often is a bad thing. Contemplating the tribute match, it is assumed that Brown, Fevola and Roughead at one end, Franklin, Matthew Richardson and Matthew Pavlich at the other, will gel seamlessly.

Roughead does not see this as insurmountable. After all, it is a weekly problem at Hawthorn, and a pleasant one.

"It's more understanding each other and working out how they play and what their strengths are," he said. "One guy's strengths might be running back with the ball and one might be leading up, so we just have to work with each other. Get an understanding. Which is good."

But he admitted the Hawks have the advantage of having arrived, trained and played together for three years, not three sessions.

Roughead said he did not remember interstate football at its zenith, but sensed its gravitas and was proud to be picked at only 21, albeit late. He was with family in Leongatha when the summons came. "Got the call-up Monday and had to come back pretty quick," he said. "Which was good. Very good."