ON SUNDAY against Hawthorn, Daniel Giansiracusa will become the first of his famous class of 1999 to rack up 200 games in a Western Bulldogs guernsey.

The 29-year-old is one of five members of that budding group of players that, as fresh-faced and inexperienced footballers, walked into Whitten Oval following the National Draft of that year.

Simon Wiggins and Patrick Bowden are gone, but Scott Clayton's decision to recruit Robert Murphy, Mitch Hahn, Lindsay Gilbee, Ryan Hargrave and Giansiracusa continues to pay off to this day.

All are in range of 200 games. Murphy is on 196, Gilbee on 195. Hargrave comes in next with 188 while Hahn, who is now a mature-aged rookie, is on 181.

Despite being the first to tick off the milestone, he hadn't really considered it until recently.

"When you sit back and reflect on it, it's a lot of games isn't it?" he told afl.com.au during the week.

"It's a pretty big effort and to do it at this fantastic club is also pretty special.

"I've been very lucky and fortunate to have played the amount of games that I have."

Giansiracusa has played with some of the greats of the club, and the game. He was lucky enough to start his career in an era where he got to run out with five of the club's top nine games record holders.

Brad Johnson, the player he rates as the best he's played with, leads that list with 364 games. It's a feat Giansiracusa believes will never be beaten.

He's made lifelong friends along the journey, including Brett Montgomery, Simon Garlick, Luke Darcy, Ben Harrison, Nathan Brown and Murphy, and says he'll always keep in touch with guys like Johnson, Scott West and Rohan Smith.

After all, they're the sorts of players who were part of the rollercoaster ride that was the first portion of his career.

"It's funny. The highlights of my career are probably the finals I've played, and they're also probably the lowlights as well," Giansiracusa said.

"When I started, it didn't look like we were going to play too many finals. We had some pretty bad years at the start and there were a couple of wooden spoons. We won three games one year and five the year after.

"Finals are why you play. You always hear players saying that. It's a pretty big thrill to run out in front of crowds like that and actually win them … we've been in some interesting positions in terms of top four, having not won that first week and then being under the pump the second week.

"But I wouldn't have it without them because you really want that opportunity and we've had that and got pretty close."

It took Giansiracusa six seasons to play in a final. He remembers the club long before his first September appearance; before the Elite Learning Centre was built, the day the roof of the gym fell in and the rats that used to run around.

The club's facilities can now rival the richest clubs in the competition, and he's currently played in 11 finals - but the Grand Final of course, still eludes him.

It's something that haunts the midfielder and makes him consider the future all the more carefully.

"I just hope I'm not one of those players who are left saying, 'What if? If only? That year we should have made it'," he said.

"You probably don't think about it when you're 23. You're told by all these experienced players to take the opportunity, they're not going to come every year and you brush it off a bit.

"It's true. You can have those chances and not take them, and then you don't know what's around the corner."

Giansiracusa says he's well aware the end is closer than the start in regards to his career but refuses to let that bog him down.

Instead, he focuses on how much he still loves playing the game, ignores any outside criticism he used to pay attention to and hopes he's still around for a couple more years yet.

"You don't really think about the end. You've got too many other worries in terms of getting yourself up from week to week and trying to perform at your optimum and I haven't done that this year so I'm still trying to find that," he said.

"I still love going to training and I love playing the game, and when that passion dries up I'll know it's time to stop.

"I was sitting with Cal Ward and Adam Cooney the other day, and I think Cal's played 46 games and I asked Coons if he'd want to be in his spot, starting out.

"We had a bit of a think about it because it has changed so much, just the level of professionalism and the tension is just huge now. It's just so hard.

"But I love playing and I could keep doing it. I've loved the time I've had so far. If your body stood up and you were feeling fresh, you would want to keep playing forever."