I was more concerned about playing one game, let alone 50!
As a skinny Irish lad who had limited experience with an oval-shaped ball, I’d taken a huge risk to fly to the other side of the world and try my luck at Australian Rules football.
My contract came with no guarantees, and I’d be lying if I said that I was always supremely confident of lasting this long.
So even though it’s only a relatively minor milestone, it will still be nice to run out for my 50th game this Saturday night against the Gold Coast.
It might have taken me five years to get there, but it’s been absolutely worth it. It’s at times like these that I spare a thought for a guy like Simon Black who has been able to play over 300 games in 15 seasons - what an outstanding effort!
I remember my old coach Leigh Matthews used to say that playing 50 games was like serving your AFL apprenticeship. The idea was that once you’d played 50 games, you could no longer be excused for being too young or inexperienced.
The great thing about the Lions at the moment is that there are a lot of players over the past 12-18 months who have reached 50 games - including Daniel Rich, James Polkinghorne, Jack Redden, Matthew Leuenberger and Tom Rockliff, with Toddy Banfield set to play his 50th this week as well.
Hopefully we can all start taking more of the senior responsibility away from guys like Browny, Blacky, Jed Adock and ’Rog’ Merrett, and help the next crop of young Lions players complete their AFL ‘apprenticeships’.
