Sydney's Barry Hall says his knockout punch on West Coast's Brent Staker was a "thuggish" act but he's determined to prove he's a footballer and not a thug.

The Swans centre half-forward will make his comeback in Saturday night's AFL clash with St Kilda at the SCG, after serving a seven-match ban over the incident.

The former Sydney co-captain said the on-field "brain snap" was caused by a build-up of personal issues, which he worked through with the team's psychologist.

"I certainly don't want (it) to tarnish me as a footballer," Hall told reporters before training at the SCG.

"People have been calling me a thug and all that sort of stuff, which is fine because it was a thuggish thing to do.

"But certainly, from here on in, I want to be known as a footballer, not as a thug.

"I've got to hold up my end of the bargain now.

"There were a few things we worked through ... I'm confident it won't happen again and we've got to the bottom of the issue."

But Hall, Sydney's six-time leading goalkicker, says he is unlikely to curb his aggressive playing style.

"I think the way I play footy, I've played that way since I was a junior so it would be pretty hard not to play as aggressively," the three-time All-Australian said.

"But I realise I've got to be careful ... because if I (make) a silly mistake again it's going to be pretty costly for me."

Hall, who suffered a broken wrist in the same round-four match against the Eagles, feels fitter than he did at the beginning of the season.

"You can't emulate match fitness and sure, I've done a whole lot of running, but tackling, jumping and getting off the ground (is) where the real fitness comes in," the 31-year-old said.

"I was a bit underdone going into the season and the past seven weeks, they've gone really well - no injury concerns, I'm fit and raring to go."

Sydney coach Paul Roos says he trusts Hall, who comes into the side for Ed Barlow, will do everything he can to avoid a similar incident.

"I'm comfortable with him playing this weekend and I certainly take his word for it," Roos said of Hall, whose tally of 23 matches missed through suspension is one more than former St Kilda bad boy Robert Muir and ex-Carlton and Swans hard man David Rhys-Jones.

"We'll certainly work with him as much as we can in order for it not to happen again."

Roos celebrates his 500th AFL game this weekend, including 356 as a player with Fitzroy and the Swans, becoming the 15th member of the exclusive club.

"Five hundred, it just shows that I didn't stay in school, I couldn't do anything else ... so it's not a bad effort for a kid from Donvale," said Roos, who joins the likes of Ron Barassi, Norm Smith and Kevin Sheedy with 500 hundred or more games.

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