St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt has undergone another course of a radical blood treatment to help prolong his AFL career.
Riewoldt revealed last August he was having a therapy called orthokine on his troublesome knee.
The star key forward has struggled with knee problems and he admits that factor will decide when he retires.
Riewoldt is 30 and has played 253 senior games.
"If I'm honest, that's going to be the thing that stops me playing, because everything else feels really good," he told Fox Footy's On The Couch program.
Riewoldt said he had another course of the blood treatment from round six this season through to round 12.
"Basically they take out some of your blood and spin it down and take all the anti-inflammatory properties out of the blood," he said.
"Then over a six-week course they inject that back into your knee.
"It's all natural stuff from your body, they just take out the good parts of it and it's therefore more concentrated.
"The idea is that it just improves the atmosphere and environment within your knee and reduces a bit of swelling.
"That's my big problem, trying to get the swelling down."
Riewoldt has enjoyed another strong season, kicking 37 goals in 15 games, but admits he has become frustrated at times with how teammates have kicked the ball to him in attack.
"No doubt I've had a couple of games and few instances within games where my body language has gotten the better of me," he said.
"That's something I need to be aware of and as a leader of a football club, I need to keep my emotions in check."
Riewoldt refused to discuss the sensitive issues surrounding teammate Stephen Milne, who is facing four rape charges.
The small forward is among several Saints veterans whose AFL futures are clouded beyond this season.
"Any time it's spoken about, there's the real potential to cause distress to everyone involved," Riewoldt said.
"So for that reason, I don't want to get into the details of how different people have reacted.
"But come the end of the year, based solely on Milney's football, there will be a decision made."
Riewoldt said he had heard none of the booing from Carlton fans when Milne returned from a club suspension two weekends ago.
"During the game I didn't notice it," he said.
Lenny Hayes is another Saints star who could leave the club at the end of the season.
Riewoldt wants Hayes to play on, as much for his character as his ability.
"It's a really tough one - I certainly hope so, purely from a selfish point of view," he said.
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