PETER Daicos, Ron Barassi, Jason Dunstall, Gavin Wanganeen and Tony Lockett; just some of the names Port Adelaide’s Darryl Wakelin will join Friday night when the defender leads Port Adelaide out on to AAMI Stadium.

Wakelin will go from full-back to centre stage when he lines up for his 250th AFL game, becoming just the second Power player to reach the milestone.

“It will definitely be a proud moment,” Wakelin says.

“Hopefully it’s going to be a good memory and we have a win. The milestone will be a good thing to look back on when I finish my career, knowing that I got to 250 games.”

The scene couldn’t be more perfect for Wakelin with Port Adelaide taking on the veteran’s former side St Kilda at home in front of his family and 30,000-plus Power fans.Wakelin’s mum Libby and his dad Chris will make the journey from Port Lincoln for their son’s big night.

“The reason you play footy is to love it and to make your parents proud and hopefully I’ve done that,” Wakelin says.

The defender started his AFL career with the Saints, playing 115 games alongside twin brother Shane, before being traded back to his beloved Port Adelaide for the 2001 season.

“Playing against the old side is always great. I’ve still got a couple of good mates at St Kilda in Max Hudghton, Andrew Thompson and Rob Harvey so I might have to ruin their day, but make it a memorable one for us.”

As a young kid hailing from the town of Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula, Wakelin never dreamed he would burst through a Port Adelaide banner commemorating his 250th game.Darryl and Shane moved to the big smoke of Adelaide as teenagers to play in the SANFL and pursue their shared dream of playing at the highest level.

“I obviously loved football as a kid. My parents were heavily involved in sport and dad was a football coach so I’ve always been involved in it. There weren’t too many minutes during winter that we didn’t have a footy in our hands,” he says.

“One of the greatest opportunities I was given was the chance to come across from Kimba and play for the Port Adelaide Magpies in the early nineties.”

Shane was the first to realise his dream, taken by St Kilda in the 1992 National Draft.Although Darryl was overlooked that year, his disappointment didn’t last long. His patience was rewarded with an SANFL premiership medallion.

In 1994 Darryl joined his brother at Moorabbin where the pair established a formidable partnership in defence.

But Wakelin says the highlight of his career, spanning more than a decade, is undoubtedly his involvement in the Power’s inaugural AFL flag.

The Wakelin twins have played in a combined total of four grand finals but Darryl’s premiership with the Power is the only time either brother has come out on top.

“I had great memories of playing in the Magpies’ SANFL premiership in 1994 and always wanted to win an AFL flag. It was disappointing in 1997 with St Kilda losing the Grand Final to Adelaide, but then after a couple of tough years missing out on preliminary finals, we (Port Adelaide) got to taste success in 2004.”

“Winning a premiership is just one of the great things in football and means you can really finish your career satisfied,” Wakelin says.

And the finish line is in sight for the strong-marking defender, who has touched up some of the best forwards in the game. Wakelin will turn 33 before season’s end and says the time to hang up the boots is drawing near.

“I’m realistic. With the players we have coming through and the pre-season Toby Thurstans has had, I probably see this as my last year. But you can never say never because you just don’t know what will happen with injuries to other players.”

Wakelin says regardless of when he decides to retire, the club is in good hands.In seven years at Alberton the reliable defender has seen players come and go but says there is something special about the current group at Port Adelaide.

“It’s obviously a very different squad to the one I first came back to from St Kilda. It is a younger side, one of the youngest in the league, so it’s very promising that we are winning games.”

The Power’s resident pharmacist currently sits 13th on Port Adelaide’s games record tally, just four games shy of now-ruck coach Matthew Primus and former defender Steve Paxman.

Wakelin says there is no real secret to becoming one of less than 20 current players to reach the 250 milestone.

“You’ve got to want to play the game. You also need a bit of luck to be in the right place at the right time, playing under a good coach at a great club. Playing here at Port Adelaide has made it a hell of a lot easier for me to still be enjoying my footy at this age.”

“Being in successful teams with the Port Adelaide footy club; there’s nothing better and it’s something I’ll dearly miss.”