DEFENDER Troy Chaplin sees the 50-game milestone, which he will reach against the Swans in round nine, as a defining point in his career.

According to the 22-year-old, he’s served his apprenticeship and now it’s time he established himself as a reliable contributor in the young Port Adelaide team.

“After reaching 50 games, you should be able to consistently play good footy,” Chaplin said.

“If you look at guys like Brett Ebert and Steve Salopek, who have reached the milestone recently, they have played good footy over the past couple of years.

“I just want to be a bit more consistent. Last year I was a bit up and down, but towards the end of the season I got a lot better.

“It’s something I want to get into my game and when you start getting big jobs on guys like Nick Riewoldt, you really have to be on your game every week.”

Chaplin is in his fourth year with the Power, having been drafted to Alberton after the club’s premiership in 2004.

The rebounding defender played just a handful of games in his first two years, but consolidated his place as one of the club’s most promising young talents in 2006 with 19 games and a NAB Rising Star nomination.

“At the end of 2005, I got an opportunity when Chad Cornes went into the midfield and the coaches put me at centre half-back,” Chaplin said.

“Then in 2006 we had a young team and we weren’t really performing that well, so the coaching staff decided to get some games into the younger guys to try and fast track our progress. It [2006] was a great year.”

Chaplin has benefited immensely from the support of former mentors Darryl Wakelin, Matthew Bishop and more recently Adam Kingsley, but owes the most to former Power assistant and current Melbourne coach Dean Bailey.

“I had a pretty good relationship with Bails and he put a lot of time and effort into me. He’s probably one of the huge influences on my career,” Chaplin said.

“Now, Adam Kingsley is doing a great job with the defence and then there’s Choco who is such a good teacher.

“Guys like Travis Boak, Robbie Gray and Justin Westhoff have come through in the past 12 months and when Choco gives you the opportunity, you tend to want to reward him just because of the amount of effort he puts into you.”

Chaplin, who represented Victoria in both football and basketball at U18 level, has already been touted as a future captain of the club.

“People talk about it, but I don’t really think about it too much,” he said.

“We’ve got great captains as it is and guys in waiting like Shaun Burgoyne and Kane Cornes. I’m trying to develop my leadership skills and I’ve been doing a fair bit of work with David Arnfield and the leadership group, but it’s a long way away if it ever happens.”

For now, the Maryborough junior is content marshalling the developing Port Adelaide defence. Chaplin, Jacob Surjan, Michael Pettigrew and Alipate Carlile are all aged under 23, and see the next few years as chance to develop a new defensive dynasty.

“Myself, Surj, Petters and Alipate have spoken about the fact that the next 10 years could be really exciting for us,” Chaplin said.

“One of the best things about this club is that they’ve thrown us in the deep end and said, ‘We want you to play here for the next five or 10 years, so you’re going to have to learn and experience the good times and the tough times’.

“It’s been exciting and hopefully something we can keep going over the next four or five years.”

In an era where loyalty among players has been questioned, Chaplin is from the old school. The recently engaged marketing student has just finished building a house with his fiancé and wants nothing more than to be immortalised at Port Adelaide.

“One of my goals is to get to 100 games and to be the first number 30 with the Port Adelaide Power to get my name on the locker,” he said.

“It would be a huge honour to do that, but it’s still so far away. It took me five years to get to 50 games and hopefully it doesn’t take that long to get the next 50.”