Battling ruckman Jonathan Giles will become Greater Western Sydney's first milestone man this weekend, but he sometimes wondered if he'd ever play a single AFL game.
Giles will become the third-season franchise's first 50-game player, shading Callan Ward and Tom Scully, who will play their 49th and 48th respectively against West Coast in Perth on Sunday.
Reaching the landmark first is a fitting reward for the persistence of 26-year-old Glies, whose story is very different from the majority of his Giants teammates.
He wasn't one of their highly rated teenage draft picks or established players from other AFL clubs.
Giles was delisted after four years at Port Adelaide, without playing a single senior game, and Giants coach Leon Cameron says that sort of adversity has helped Giles get to where he is today.
"When you get delisted, it's a pretty hard thing to swallow," Giles said.
"But I was fortunate enough to get a second chance by the Giants."
But the draw hasn't done the ruckman any favours for his landmark game.
Both sides are coming off four straight losses, with Giles and Andrew Phillips, who will play his first senior game since 2012, charged with the task of countering the formidable combination of Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui.
"It's a huge task taking on Cox and Naitanui," Giles said.
"Cox has been such a great ruckman for so many years and Naitanui is such and exciting player and impact player.
"It's going to be a great challenge for Andrew and myself and we're really looking forward to going to Perth and having a crack at them."
Giles carried the bulk of the Giants workload through through their first two seasons.
He was supposed to get extra support this year, with the recruitment of Shane Mumford, but the premiership-winning Swan has missed the past four games with a knee issue.
Cameron said Mumford was "98.8 per cent right", but the Giants were erring on the side of caution, with a bye looming next week.
Mumford apart, the Giants' injury list includes forward spearhead Jeremy Cameron and midfielder Adam Treloar, but Phillips, midfielder Lachie Whitfield, and defenders Josh Hunt and Aidan Corr have been recalled.
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