The 1991 AFL grand final at Waverley was responsible for four individual player records – all set by the one man.
Hawthorn skipper Michael Tuck played his 39th final, his 11th grand final and won his seventh premiership, achievements that have never been matched.
It was also his final game which saw him bow out having played an all-time record 426 games.
For many years following Tuck’s retirement it was considered that his benchmark would stand for all-time.
Last Friday night, 25 years after Tuck set the bar, his mark was equalled when North Melbourne’s Brent Harvey took to Etihad Stadium.
On Saturday night at the same venue Harvey will claim the record as his own.
In the lead-up to his impending milestone he has suggested that he still has possibly two seasons left in him so he may well take the record considerably north of 450 games.
Whenever the curtain falls it will be a remarkable achievement.
As of last weekend a total of 12,467 men have played VFL/AFL football. To sit at the top of the tree is quite some honour.
Tuck’s record took a quarter of a century to eclipse. Harvey’s may take considerably longer.
What Harvey has done however is largely debunk a myth although, despite his achievement, many still hold the myth to be true.
It centres on the modern player and the number of games they will play.
I have lost count of the number of times that I have heard people comment on the fact that the way the modern game is played will result in greatly reduced player longevity.
They continually cite the pace of the game and the increased travel requirements as planks in their argument.
The facts however paint a very different picture.
While Harvey is one out of the bag, in recent times there has been no real dilution with respect to the length of player’s careers.
One need only look at the top-15 players of all-time to prove that point.
Aside from Harvey, Dustin Fletcher (4th on 400) and Adam Goodes (8th on 372) both retired last season while Matthew Pavlich will move to equal 14th all-time, alongside Doug Hawkins, when he plays his 350th match on Sunday.
Last season two players brought up their 300th appearance – Corey Enright and Nick Del Santo – and both are still going around this season.
This year has seen a significant swelling of the 300 club.
Nick Riewoldt reached the milestone in Round 2, Shaun Burgoyne in Round 5 and Drew Petrie in Round 7.
Over the past two weeks we have seen Scott Thompson and Sam Mitchell notch up their 300th game and Jimmy Bartel will do it this weekend.
Bartel will be the 77th player to achieve the feat. That means eight men, who represent 10.4 per cent of the 300-game club, have reached that milestone in the past 12 month and 26.7 per cent of the all-time top-15 have been on the field in the past year.
Many of those eight who played their 300th game in the past year will go around next season, and some like Del Santo at 32, potentially for several more seasons taking each into the top-30.
While travel for the likes of the Western Australian teams, which have significant road trips every fortnight, may shave some time off careers the anecdotal evidence has shown the impact to be minimal.
Since entering the national competition the West Coast Eagles have seen 15 players in their 30-season history reach 200 games.
Compare that with Melbourne, the oldest professional club of any football code in the world.
In its 159th season it has had 25 200-game players, just ten more than the Eagles and 16 ahead of Adelaide which is in its 26th season.
To date, Essendon has had 27 200-game players and Richmond and Footscray/Western Bulldogs both 25.
So, as we all congratulate and herald Brent Harvey’s incredible journey this weekend, it is time also to debunk the myth that into the future players’ careers will be greatly shortened.
Penster
Guest
Gary Ablett Jnr, Selwood, Bartel are all time greats, but you make a point maybe make that "one of the best teams the game has seen". Hawks in the 80's - you're preaching to the converted, I didn't miss a grandfinal and rarely a game in the era.
Penster
Guest
Tongue in cheek Mattyb I realised who it was meant for. Hawks supporters are the spoiled brats of the league, all that success does go to your head! My Doggies family give me 10minutes on Xmas day after unwrapping the latest premiership merch, to gloat and describe the euphoria. After that, I don't say a word and then the cricket goes on. Tucky is beloved, a truly humble, gentle man. Not an attention seeking lair like so many of his (very entertaining) contemporaries. Boomer is a champion player, he's earned his place in North's hall of fame and he's wearing long sleeves to honour Tuck which is a very quirky and cool tribute. Guess he couldn't get a long beard grown in time.
Mike Huber
Roar Pro
Upon reflection 3 premierships in 6 years is very impressive . I am a bit biased towards the older cats - Peak , Couch , Bairstow , Bews - all great players that did not win a flag. Gary Hocking is my all time favourite Cat - tough as teak, unbelievable hands, scintillating kick and probably the best motor I have seen - would run and tackle as hard in the final minute as the first. Hocking played some absolutely blinding games for Victoria also.
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
Mike, in fairness, the Geelong teams that have one flags in recent times have contained numerous players who will end up in the AFL Hall of Fame: Ablett, Selwood, Scarlett, Bartel, Enright.
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
Yes Spruce, surprisingly I have heard of Leigh Matthews. As always, your level of sarcasm is greatly appreciated. Tuck was runner-up to Matthews on three of the eight occasions he won the B & F.
Beny Iniesta
Guest
The record will be broken because in few years time the AFL will go to 25 Round/match seasons with the new TV rights deal slated to start in 2023. Why will this happen? Full-time professionalism is a big reason, the biggest in fact, and closely followed by money. What's money got to do in particular with increasing the season? Well, during the next TV rights deal era (2017-2022) Australia will almost certainly experience a severe recession which will see TV rights money for 2023 set to plunge - unless - the AFL supply more product. The players will themselves demand it given the life they've become accustomed to. It is almost inevitable, just a question of timing.
Perry Bridge
Guest
Players become 'all time greats' once they are retired - more often than not. Up until then they are fallible and aging and even Gary Ablett snr was getting written off and put out to pasture near the end even though he probably could've gone another couple of years in a fwd pocket for someone and snag 50 goals a year. btw - Enright, Scarlett, Bartel become GFC all time greats. I'd imagine. I presume Selwood and Hawkins (he's no J.Brown or W.Carey) will be remembered fondly once he retires.
Jack
Guest
I reckon Burgoyne will be next in 400 club ..He has got 3 years in him if his body and mind holds up..
mattyb
Guest
Apologies Penster,the comment was a reply to Perry rather than yourself but it got put under yours and I didn't mean to cause offence. My intention also wasn't to slate Hawthorn supporters as such but I recognise that offering a comment about the way their supporters get so defensive is doing exactly that. I do think Hawthorn have some respectful supporters of which you and Wilson certainly are. Your comments regarding Harvey yesterday and today have been excellent. Some of the comments on yesterday's article about Harvey were particularly unfair by many Hawthorn supporters and I don't expect that to change before the weekend.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
would you believe "flat"?
Penster
Guest
Boomer is a lot more than just a "good" player, but North have mostly been an average team while he's been there.
Penster
Guest
Say, mattyb, if you're going to slate all Hawthorn supporters, don't do it on the end of a comment from a Hawthorn supporter who's praising a Geelong player!
Penster
Guest
"Tuck" and "bully" don't belong in the same sentence.
harry houdini
Roar Rookie
176 cm - !! Lol
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Mike Huber The irony of that particular game was Glendenning kick 0.5 (and Kerry Good 2.5) as North managed 12.26 to let Collingwood get by on the back of a really good 3rd term. The other point of interest with a number of those 'disloyal' players was how many were or were to be Brownlow medallists. Dempsey had won at Footscray and gone to North. Glendenning would win in '83 and head off to be inaugural Eagles skipper. Wilson moved on to Melb and StK with a Brownlow at Melb and Moore of course had won in '79 at Coll and would back up after moving to Melbourne. Over the last 10 years the Brownlow movers have been Ablett (Geel and Gld Cst), Judd (WCE and Syd) - so, along with Moore both winning 2 at different clubs. Cooney as per tradition from the red/white/blue to let their Brownlow medalists go and Cousins who was a bit of a special case. The next 10 year period (1995-2004) only really sees Woewodin as a Brownlow mover. Before that then was Williams (joining the Judd, Moore and Ablett group), Libber had only played U19s and Ressies at North, Wanganeen would end up at Port. Healy had come from Melb. Lockett would find a way to Sydney and Hardie would end up on the Gold Coast. Oh yeah - and Buckley who perhaps should've stayed at the Bears. So - player loyalty - to my mind is as good as ever despite all the posturing and we're a long way from the Foschini or Paul Morwood situations or even the Russell Greene scenario. Those were real shocks to the supporters - - gee, how ever did we cope as young kids!!!
Gecko
Guest
Today's game is physically much harder. Sure there were some big hits back in the VFL days but the number of tackles per game today has gone through the roof and so has the amount of running required per player (both during the game and during the week).
Gecko
Guest
I look back nostalgically at those suburban mud-heaps and VFL players splashing around from one pack to another, covered thickly in mud and almost unrecognisable. AFL in 2017 should dedicate one weekend to the old-fashioned mud battles, where different skills sets were on display.
Mike Huber
Roar Pro
"Geelongs recent premiership dynasty , surrounded by some of the best players the game has seen " ?? Who are these all time great AFL players from Geelong ? The only "all time great players" I have seen from Geelong didn't play in premierships - Gary Hocking ( an absolute beast ) Gary Snr ( God ) . Geelong has had some good teams , but really , all time great players ? Go back to Hawthorn in the 80's and you will see " all time great players " on every line on the ground .
mattyb
Guest
Perry,it doesn't amaze me at all the carry on from the Hawthorn folk. They get up in arms over everything. Talk about Harvey being the games record holder and of course their up in arms because Tuck played for Hawthorn. Talk about Brisbanes success they get up in arms,talk about Fyfe being the league's best player they are up in arms,mention any coach other than Clarkson they are up in arms. This has nothing to do with who was the better player or who's team has had the greatest success. It is a celebration of the player who has played the most games,it's about longevity and durability and that's about it.
While we're at it
Guest
Thanks Perry. All up, both Tucky & Boomer, as well as KB & Fletch, have been grand servants of the game. Imagine the number of kms run between them in matches as well as in training, phenomenal.