SIMON Black thought when the Lions drafted him in 1997 he would head to Brisbane for a season or two and return to Western Australia to play his career out in the local league.
Thankfully for him and the rest of the AFL community, he was wrong.
Black will line up against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday night for his 250th game and become just the 11th player in the merged club's history to reach the milestone.
"I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd play 250 games when I was drafted here," he said.
"It is a bit surreal, it's been a fantastic journey and one [where] I've been very blessed to be drafted by the Brisbane Lions.
"When I was a kid growing up I thought AFL players were freaks on TV. When you get drafted you realise they're normal people, normal players, they work hard and give themselves a chance."
In the 12 years since he slipped through to the Lions at pick No. 31 in the national draft, Black has been one of those 'freaks' he looked up to as a youngster.
He has never been the fastest, the strongest, had the longest kick or the biggest leap, but the 30-year-old has a nose for the ball few others possess.
He is durable, persistent and beaten a constant stream of taggers over his career.
While statistics alone only tell half the story for Black, his resume is the equal of any current day player.
Three premierships, three club champion awards, a Brownlow Medal in 2002, Norm Smith Medal in 2003 and three-time All Australian are among his long list of achievements.
But it's his humility which endears him to many.
Even on the eve of such a personal milestone, Black was genuine in sprouting the team philosophy.
"It's something I never thought I'd reach when I started out, but if you're fortunate enough with injuries over the years, it's a milestone you might rack up,'' he said.
"It's a big milestone, but this weekend is all about getting a win against a big club in Melbourne who are on the same points as us so that's really the focus."
Black, then a 73kg teenager, still remembers his debut against the Western Bulldogs in round one, 1998.
"I thought I was going to get snapped in half," he said.
"I started on the wing, I was a bit intimidated. We lost that night, we came dead last that year, won the wooden spoon, so it was a disappointing year, but it was a great thrill to play the first game."
He has not looked back, citing the Lions' hat-trick of premierships as a career highlight.
And Black's consistency continues to amaze with a career-high possession average in 2009 (25.75) and being kept to less than 20 touches on just four occasions in the past two years.
He says he is just as excited about running out with his younger teammates than ever before.
"It has been a real challenge the four to five years since we played in finals and we had to start again and rebuild as a playing group," he said.
"It's very pleasing at the same time to see the development of the young guys coming through and start to play some really good football – the confidence to go on the ground and feel like they belong in the AFL."
Watch for Black to have a big game on Saturday night because he has a habit of producing them in milestone matches against the Magpies.
His 100th game was the 2002 grand final win over Collingwood, while in No. 200 he earned three Brownlow Medal votes for a vintage 37-possession display in a loss at the Gabba.
