PORT ADELAIDE'S Shaun Burgoyne had reached a level of class comparable to the game's premier midfielders Chris Judd and Gary Ablett, Hawthorn captain Sam Mitchell said yesterday.

Mitchell, who after seven rounds is leading The Age's footballer of the year award, said Burgoyne — who is yet to win a best and fairest for Port — had consistently proved a match-breaker and was underrated in Victoria.

"Just with that explosive speed and being able to break a game completely open all on his own, and the amount of games that he's probably kept Port Adelaide in or won off his own boot, I think he's probably pretty close to the same as those two," Mitchell said ahead of Saturday night's Hall of Fame game, which might yet feature Ablett, Judd and Burgoyne.

"I guess because he isn't in Melbourne, he probably doesn't get the media that he deserves, but he's probably in the same category with them."

Burgoyne, 25 and an All-Australian player in 2006, was Port Adelaide's top poller in last year's Brownlow Medal count — ahead of Kane and Chad Cornes — but placed fifth in the club's best and fairest.

Mitchell said he ranked Ablett as the game's best midfielder but when Judd returned to full fitness he said the pair was evenly matched.

"I think Juddy's very close to getting back to his best and when he is they're both as good as each other," he said.

Fast closing in was the Western Bulldogs' Adam Cooney — "He's certainly on his way," Mitchell said of the 22-year-old.

"If he plays the way he's been playing for another 12 months he goes into that top group as well, but probably those guys (Judd and Ablett) have been doing it for a little bit longer."

A member of the Victorian squad with both Ablett and Judd, Mitchell said he hoped Geelong's brilliant ball-winner would overcome the calf injury that has him in doubt for the weekend game because he is as keen to train with Ablett as he is to play alongside him.

"I hope he feels fine so he can train because I'd like to watch the way he trains and I'd like to watch the way he plays," Mitchell said.

"To be able to give a little handball to Gary Ablett who runs through the middle and gets around three blokes and kicks a goal, it would be a nice little feeling that you're never going to get anywhere else."

As for his own impressive form this season, Mitchell said it was the development of Hawthorn's squad overall rather than any great improvement in his own game that had led to him winning more plaudits.

"I think where our footy club's at is we have a lot more depth and we have a lot of players who are playing very, very good football … particularly through our midfield where I obviously play, so it's becoming harder and harder for opposition clubs to match us up," he said.

"I think one of the good things about our midfield depth is that we all have the capability of playing very good footy and if a couple of us are shut down it seems to be working for us that we can just change our roles a little bit and other guys seem to be able to step into the roles that we might have been expected to play."