HAWTHORN rookie Luke Breust is fast earning a reputation as his team's super sub.

In the Hawks' first six games this season, coach Alastair Clarkson used six different players as substitutes.

But since Breust's AFL debut in round eight, he's the only Hawk to have donned the green vest - and he's done so with great effect.

Far from being annoyed at his coach's decision to halt the rotation policy, the 20 year-old is thrilled simply to be experiencing the pace and intensity of big-time football.

"It hasn't been frustrating," Breust says of being handed the substitute's vest in all of his first three senior games.

"Any exposure at the top level is good for me; the more I can get, the better."

In Breust's first match, against St Kilda, he was thrown quickly into the action when key defender Stephen Gilham left the game with a knee injury.

The dynamic half-forward had an immediate impact, collecting 13 disposals and kicking 2.2 as the Hawks recovered from a 32-point quarter-time deficit to win by 30 points.

Senior teammates commented on the noticeable boost Breust's energy and enthusiasm provided.

Wins against the Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs have followed, leaving Breust yet to taste defeat at AFL level.

"To debut against St Kilda was pretty special and the last couple of games have been good to play in and also to get the win," he says.

"We've strung a few wins together now and it's looking good for us."

Breust's chance at senior level has come on the back of two years spent working hard to build an AFL player's body.

He has packed on 10kg since arriving at the club at the end of 2008 weighing only 70kg, after being picked up by the Hawks in the rookie draft.

Having kicked 29 goals in 20 games with Box Hill last season, Breust was confident his turn on the big stage was drawing close.

"I had a good year last year and I was close on a few occasions but just couldn't quite crack it in the senior side," he says.

"I thought that if I could come off a good pre-season, even if I did start at Box Hill again, I could find the form of last year and hopefully break into the side.

"And that's sort of how it's panned out; a couple of good games in the VFL and then all of a sudden round eight came and I got my chance."

Running onto the MCG in the brown and gold stripes for the first time, Breust had made remarkable strides from the country NSW kid who grew up with dual sporting loyalties.

The Breust family's farm near Temora - just north of the fertile sports breeding ground of Wagga Wagga - straddles 'The Barassi Line', a term first coined in the late 1970s to indicate the border between traditional Australian football and rugby league heartlands.

The theory went, live south-west of the line and you love Ron Barassi and play footy. Live north-east of the line and you have no idea who Barassi is and play rugby league.

In Breust's case, residing right on that mythical divide left him with only one option, particularly given his dad played Australian football as a young man but his mum's family followed the rival code.

"From a young age I played Aussie rules on a Saturday and then rugby league on a Sunday," he says.

"I found it pretty easy. You're a little kid and you just love playing footy.

"It wasn't until around 15 onwards that the boys started hitting a little bit harder and you had to deal with a few bumps and bruises from the Saturday game if you were playing Sunday."

And he believes the rugby league experience helped his development in the sport that eventually became his career.

"I'm probably known around the club more for my sidestep, but I'm not a bad tackler," he says.

From juniors in Temora, Breust was spotted by talent scouts and started gaining selection in NSW/ACT rep sides.

As a 17 year-old he played nine games, including a winning grand final, with the Sydney Swans reserves.

He would train at home and then, if he got the call, drive to Canberra - where most of the Swans reserves' away matches are played - for a game on the weekend.

A broken leg in June of Breust's final junior year stalled his progress and he was overlooked in the national draft, but the Hawks invited him to train at Waverley in the lead-up to the rookie draft.

He made an impression, and claimed one of the final spots on the Hawks' list for the 2009 season.

Two-and-a-half years later, Breust (selection permitting) will run out this Sunday alongside his Hawthorn teammates to clash with Fremantle in the club's annual 'Kokoda Match'.

The game recognises the Australian soldiers who fought the Japanese on the track during World War II and supports the Kokoda Track Foundation.

Hawthorn sends every player to Papua New Guinea to tackle the gruelling Kokoda trek, a journey Breust completed at the end of 2009.

"The 20 guys I did it with, I'll always have that memory of doing it with them," he says.

"So if you are struggling on the field, if you just think about what got you through in Kokoda, then it's going to give you a bit of a lift I think."

Under Clarkson, the Hawks have adopted the four 'pillars of Kokoda' - courage, mateship, sacrifice and endurance - as their motto.

The four words adorn the walls of the players' gym as a constant reminder.

"If you live your life by those four things, it's going to stand you in pretty good stead," Breust says.

"And if you do those four things on the field, then you're obviously going to have team success and go a long way to winning that premiership."

Mark Macgugan writes for hawthornfc.com.au and covers Hawthorn news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @mmacgugan.