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For the past two years Carlton co-captain Sam Docherty has pencilled in round eight for his 100th AFL game and he will finally reach the mark on Saturday.

Round eight has been a long-time coming for Carlton AFL co-captain Sam Docherty.

The star defender will play his 100th AFL game this Saturday, with the Blues taking on North Melbourne at the Gabba in Brisbane.

Docherty said he was aware round eight would be his milestone game, only he had hoped it would have come two years ago, after being stuck on 92 matches.

The 26-year-old missed the 2018 season when he ruptured his ACL, only to repeat the injury during the 2019 pre-season, leaving him sidelined for nearly 1000 days.

"It's taken a fair bit longer than I thought given the circumstances with my knees," Docherty said on Tuesday.

"There's added significance given the time I spent away from the game and I'd be lying if I didn't say there were times during those two years off that I didn't think I was going to get here.

"It was one of the things I did each year; I picked where round eight was going to be the last two years and unfortunately it didn't happen."

Despite some strong performances, Docherty felt he was still finding his touch after such a long lay-off but said his game had grown in other less tangible ways.

"I learnt a lot more about my mental health and my teammates and being able to come back as a leader of the club and being able to read the group and help the group as much as I can is probably the biggest thing I learnt through my time off," he said.

Last round the Blues looked positioned for an upset win over ladder-leaders Port Adelaide only for Robbie Gray to boot the match-winner after the siren.

Docherty said despite the loss, his 11th-placed team took confidence from the performance.

"Robbie Gray, a very special player and we were beaten by a pretty amazing kick," he said.

"There are obviously elements we need to tidy up in our game but we pushed the best team in the comp to a last kick after the siren.

"It's exciting that we're in games of footy and we're pushing and beating some of the best teams in the comp."