The Triple M footy team of James Brayshaw, Garry Lyon, Danny Frawley, Jason Dunstall and, until recently, Brian Taylor have affectionately - and exclusively - referred to Milne as the 'Tip Rat'.
I don't think there are many characters in the game who could carry a nickname like Tip Rat with any sort of pride. But I strongly suspect that Stephen Mine is very comfortable with it.
Stephen Milne grew up in the back streets of Noble Park. His journey from the outer suburbs to the St Kilda forward line has been, like most things in his life, unconventional.
He won the TAC goalkicking in 1997 as a 17-year-old with 56 goals, but he was overlooked in the draft. Essendon placed him on their supplementary list, and he played every game in their reserves before St Kilda snapped him up as a rookie in 1999.
Milne is now arguably the best small forward in the competition. It's a great football story for a player many considered to be too slow, too small and too unreliable.
There is no harder role in AFL football than to perform at a consistently high standard as a permanent small forward. History shows that very few players have had extended careers in that role.
Think about it: it's significantly harder to lead up, win possession, turn your opponent inside out and score than to simply defend with the play unfolding in front of you.
Tonight Milne plays game No.194; he has kicked 388 goals. On 13 occasions he has bagged five or more, including a career-high 11-goal haul against the Bombers.
I travelled through Ireland with Milney on an International Rules trip in 2002. He was a bit like a kid who had overdosed on red cordial: a little too excitable, even a little annoying, but genuinely great to be around. It was impossible not to like him.
Grant Thomas's coach-player relationship with Milne was always strained. Thomas recently spoke about his struggle to get the best out of Milne; he felt it was in Milne's best interest to be more humble, that his habit of consistently antagonising opposition players and supporters was not necessarily helpful to the team.
In hindsight, perhaps this wasn't the best way to extract a consistent performance from Milne.
Ross Lyon appears to manage him well. He seems happy for Milne to fire up, shoot his mouth off, give it to opposition players and supporters as long as he tackles, chases and defends with the same enthusiasm. Milne's improvement to this side of his game is a credit to both the player and the coach.
If you didn't catch Milney's goal in the St Kilda-Port Adelaide game last Saturday night, then do yourself a favour; it's one of the all time greats. It's classic Stevie Milne: sneaky, sly, instinctive, cunning, brilliant. Few players in the game would be bold enough to even attempt it.
Looking ahead to tonight's game against the Western Bulldogs, Milne will be as important as ever. Dale Morris is the Bulldogs' best defensive player and he'll get the job on him. It was a massive compliment to Milne in round one when the Sydney Swans chose to use Craig Bolton, their best defender, on him rather than on Nick Riewoldt or Justin Koschitzke.
The Saints are coming off only their fourth loss in 30 games. As always, they will be structured in a way that makes them very hard to score against. They are an incredibly well-organised and disciplined unit.
This game has all the necessary sub-plots and match-ups to deliver a Friday night classic.
If you tune in to Triple M for the call, you can expect Dunstall, Lyon, Brayshaw and Billy Brownless to be all over their man the Tip Rat.
We all love him because he's unique and he's a gun. There's only one Stephen Milne.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
