INJURIES have made 2008 a frustrating season for talented defender Roger Hayden, but he is enjoying his opportunities to become a leader at Fremantle.

Hayden's career was in jeopardy when he broke a leg and suffered complications in 2004, but the birth of his son and a place in a WAFL premiership endorsed a strong return in 2006 and 2007.

Now the retirement of Shaun McManus, Peter Bell, Matthew Carr and Heath Black have encouraged him to consider his seniority in the young squad.

"I'm now one of the older players at the club and a lot of the younger guys probably are looking up to me a bit more for some leadership," he said.

"I'm embracing being a leader and trying to do everything I can to help get them on the right path and hopefully I'm doing a reasonable job of it.

"It's something I'm enjoying as well. I couldn’t have done it a few years ago as when I first arrived I was a bit quiet and kept to myself a lot, but now I have guys looking up to me for guidance and I'm happy to give it."

This year's hamstring injuries have frustrated the 27-year-old, and he admits a collapsed lung was a little scary, but he is now focused on finishing the season with vigour.

"It has been a bit of a disappointing year for me with my hamstring injuries and the punctured lung, but I'm back now and am focused on finishing off the season strongly by playing well and staying healthy," he said.

"I've been reasonably happy with how I've been playing but the injuries have been disappointing. I had a good pre-season and set myself for a big year but little niggles snowballed into bigger injuries and I've so far played 10 games and missed 10.

"I didn’t really know what had happened at first but I went to get a check-up because I was having a few problems and found out that I had a collapsed lung," he added.

"I was told I'd have to go to hospital for a couple of days, but had a few complications in there with it so I stayed a bit longer, then had to take it easy for a while and eventually got back."

However, those challenges fell short of what he faced in earlier years.

Inspired by the birth of his son Isaiah, Hayden fought back from his serious leg injury to enjoy a solid 2005 season with South Fremantle.

"I just wanted to come back and enjoy my footy, which I was able to do at South Fremantle and was lucky enough to play in a premiership," he said. "South Freo was where I started, so it was an unbelievable feeling to win the premiership.

"We won 12 straight that year to win the premiership and I feel proud to have been part of it. Winning a WAFL premiership is right up there as one of the highlights of my career so far as well as the prelim with Fremantle and the All Stars games I have played in.

"The other important thing in me fighting back from my broken leg was the fact that my son was born. He was a real driving force behind my motivation to get back and without him I might have never made it back."

Like the rest of his teammates, Hayden was disappointed with Fremantle's narrow loss to the Sydney Swans last weekend but is keen to make up for it against St Kilda on Sunday.

"We have been playing some really good footy over the last month even though we lost last week and we've been able to string some good form together," he said.

"Hopefully we do that again on Sunday against a team that is dangerous and wants to play finals.

The club will also farewell champion Bell with a pre-match tribute.

"When he (Bell) came back to the club I was in my first year, so I have spent all of my eight years alongside him and he was an unbelievable player and leader," he said.

"I always looked up to him a lot and it's a bit sad that he's retired, but it will be good to see him there again on Sunday before the game."