AS FREMANTLE pushes through a horror injury run that has now caught captain Mathew Pavlich, milestone man David Mundy stands as the exception to the rule.
Pavlich has a minor tear in his calf and will miss two to three weeks.
The skipper will also lose his mantle as the fastest Fremantle player to reach 100 games, with Mundy set to achieve the feat in club record time against Carlton at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.
Mundy will become just the eighth player in VFL/AFL history to play 100 consecutive games from debut, behind leader Jared Crouch (Sydney Swans) who played 194 straight games after his AFL introduction.
"I'd kind of forgotten about it for a little bit until a couple of weeks ago," Mundy said from Fremantle Oval on Tuesday.
"I've been a little bit lucky to get through. It means a lot to me at the moment and I'm sure once I finish my career and look back on it, it'll mean even more."
Mundy, who debuted against Melbourne in round six, 2005, said he had never had a major injury and the most football he had ever missed in junior ranks was two weeks with a niggle.
The 23-year-old said he didn't have a recovery formula that allowed his record-breaking run, but said the club had played its part by selecting him every week despite some up and down form.
"Going into each season I sit down and have a chat to my friends and I'm always not sure if I'm going to play round one," he said.
"The club has shown faith in me, especially through some lean trots. But I feel like I've put the hard work in."
Mundy, who has averaged 18 possessions a game from the midfield this season, said his form had again been up and down in 2009, but there were patches of his season he was happy with since moving into the middle from half-back.
"It's quite a different role [in the midfield] and there's a lot more tricks of the trade you need to learn up there.
"I think I'm slowly getting better as I spend more time in there."
Fremantle will run out on Sunday without Pavlich for just the fourth time since round 15, 2001.
The skipper was missing for three games late last season, two of which Fremantle won.
Antoni Grover (corked leg) and Steven Dodd (concussion) will both be available, but Mundy said covering Pavlich's loss would be a challenge for the young side.