Triple premiership player Ben Stratton says being promoted to Hawthorn's leadership group last season helped reinvigerate his career.

The Hawks defender's interest in the game was challenged over the past two years, especially after suffering a season-ending posterior cruciate ligament injury in round eight last season against Brisbane.

"My body wasn't doing the right thing, but I also just wasn't excited rocking up and playing every week," Stratton told SEN on Thursday morning.

"Over the last two years, having frustrating years with injury and stuff, I lost a little bit of interest in footy, to be honest.

"Whether or not that was because we'd sort of been there and done that, or just I'd been in the game long enough it got to the point where it just wasn't stimulating me in the same way, so I had to find a way that it would, otherwise my footy was going to go downhill and who knows what [would happen]?"

Stratton said his elevation to the leadership group ahead of the 2017 season had given him the purpose he needed to keep going.

He said the responsibility had given him an "extra challenge" at the club after a bleak period where he didn't know where his career was headed.

"I wasn't sure what was going to happen," he said.

"Last year I got selected in the group and had to make a decision; if I was going to push forward and better myself and also my teammates, I was going to have to challenge myself in that and get a lot better in that area.

"I had a talk with guys at the club to see what I could do, but obviously you've got to make the decision yourself and being in that leadership role has really helped.

"I started feeding off guys like Luke Hodge and blokes on the way out of their career, and tried to soak in as much information as I could and better myself as a leader.

"Now I've got a real purpose when I go to the club, it's really to work on my leadership and better others around me, which has really helped my footy as well."

Stratton, 29, has played every game this season, including his 150th milestone in round four, and has slotted nicely back into the Hawks' defence.