JORDAN Russell will play his 100th AFL match when Carlton takes on St Kilda on Monday night, nearly six years after he made his debut against the same opposition.

Russell managed just two kicks in the 80-point belting in round 15 of the 2005 season, but he and the team have come a long way since those dark days.

The Blues, still reeling from the aftershocks of salary cap sanctions, were well on their way to their first wooden spoon under Denis Pagan and Russell had taken the first step in a tough initiation into the big league.

Fast-forward to the present day and Carlton is gearing up for a flag tilt with Russell a vital cog in the team's defence.

The former West Adelaide junior admits it's a scenario that seemed improbable back then. 

"It was a bit of a struggle early days, but I thank Denis Pagan and Brett Ratten for believing in me," Russell says.

"We got there in the end, so I can't wait to run out on Monday night."

Russell took time to find his feet at Carlton and laboured under the weight of the expectations of fans desperate for a ray of light amongst the gloom.

Russell was taken ninth overall in the 2004 NAB AFL Draft, and the disproportionate pressure to perform that is placed on a first-round draft pick was magnified in his case by the team's plight and the fact he was just the second first-rounder to arrive at the club after the sanction drafts of 2001 and 2002.

"Early days I let it get to me a bit," he says of the criticism he received as he tried to find his ideal position on the ground.

"But you can't listen to that because you're just going to get yourself down. Once I learned that lesson I just had to worry about what I had to do. It took a little while, but we got there in the end.

"I try not to dwell too much on the bad stuff, but I do look back to some defining moments. I go back and rehash the things that worked and keep trying to take another step forward."

The vast majority of players will tell you their transition out of the developmental phase of their careers is a slow and steady one, but Russell knows exactly when it all changed for him.

"[It was] the game I played against Stevie Johnson when we played Geelong in round 19 of 2009," he says.

"He was a bit injured coming into the game I think, but that's when I found I had a lot of confidence back there and could play the game.

"Ratts told the boys to get the ball into my hands whenever they could and I went from there."

Last year's round seven clash against St Kilda was a watershed moment for Russell and Carlton.

The 24-year-old racked up a career-high 35 possessions and the Blues broke a 12-game losing streak against the Saints in emphatic fashion.

"Statistically it was [my best game], but it was just good to get a win over St Kilda last time," he says of the performance that helped him take second place behind Chris Judd at last year's John Nicholls Medal count.

"We hadn't beaten them for a long time and to beat them by about 10 goals was a great effort. At the end of the day if we get the four points that's all that matters."