Soon-to-retire Carlton veteran Andrew Carrazzo says he “wouldn’t have changed a thing” about his football journey.

When the final siren sounds this Saturday against the Hawks, the midfielder will hang up the boots after 194 games of giving his all to the navy blue jumper.

After starting his career as a rookie at Geelong before moving to Carlton, the 31-year-old says it wasn’t until his second or third year at the Blues that he felt he could truly play at AFL level.

“There was certainly some hard yards at the start in trying to make my way but that’s all part of it (the journey), not everyone is created equal,” Carrazzo told Crocmedia on Wednesday evening.

“I played the best part of 60 games in the twos before I had a look in at the Blues, so I felt like I was prepared physically and I could match it with those guys…it was just about getting up to the speed of the game.”

Once he had cemented his spot in the team, the No. 44 was soon lining up against the opposition’s most dominant players and says he did “enjoy” taking on the stars of the competition.

“Even as nervous and anxious as I would get going to the games knowing that I’m playing on Scott Pendlebury, or Joel Selwood, or Dane Swan, I feel like it did bring out the best in me,” he said.

“Certainly not to say I beat them every time, but I did feel like I had to take my game to another level, and I enjoyed the fact when I walked off the ground it was fairly easy to measure how I'd gone.

“I loved that part of my career where I was able to match up against the best midfielders in the game and a lot of the time hold my own.”

Over the course of Carrazzo’s 14 years in the AFL, his opponents have not only been getting bigger in star status, but also in size.

Standing at 187cm Carrazzo is considered one of the smaller midfielders when you compare him to the likes of teammate Patrick Cripps (194cm) or Western Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli (192cm).

“For me that’s been the biggest change, you look at a Nat Fyfe (190cm) and a David Mundy (192cm) and they’re the average size of a midfielder now.

“If you’re my height and you’re coming into the game now, I feel like you have to have something really special, whether you’re an elite decision maker or you’ve got great speed, like Marc Murphy.

“It’s a changing game and a view into the future of AFL footy.”

Carrazzo will play his last game in navy blue this Saturday afternoon at the MCG against Hawthorn, with the match kicking off at 4.40pm.