Jarryd Roughead has told of the "ups and downs" of his aggressive cancer treatment as he tries to maintain a big brother role with Hawks' players about to embark on their first finals season .
Doctors removed a melanoma from the Hawthorn star's lip last year, but the cancer returned and spread to his lungs.
He told radio station Gold 104.3 on Thursday morning he had been through about three months of immunotherapy treatment, which he receives every three weeks.
Roughead said he felt OK after the first dose of medication, but found the aftermath of the second and third more difficult.
The 29-year-old said the type of immunotherapy medical staff were giving him was quite aggressive initially.
"You have your ups and downs obviously. This stuff that's going in your body, it's poison, it's there to do a job," he said.
Roughead said he would have scans in a couple of weeks to see whether the treatment had worked.
"All signs are positive, that's what we want," he said.
Roughead said he was spending time at Hawthorn, offering guidance to young players who had never before been part of a finals series.
"In a sense I'm like a bigger brother to these boys," he said.
"You just tell them to enjoy it, because who knows if they're ever going to get back there again."
Roughead said he found sitting in the coaches box with forward coach Brett Ratten during Hawks' games an interesting experience.
"We try to work together and give ideas and bounce stuff off, because it is a lot easier from the box, let me tell you," he said.
The Hawks will play Geelong in the first week on the finals series at the MCG next Friday night.
Roughead said the teams had one of the better modern-day rivalries and Geelong had benefited from some good new recruits in 2016, so it should be a good game.
He said he was glad to see club veterans Luke Hodge, Shaun Burgoyne and Josh Gibson re-sign with the Hawks.
"It means I get every chance to play with them again, that's what I want," he said.
