When it comes to footy milestones, Brad King and Trevor Douglas have enjoyed their fair share together at Mount Pleasant.
LOYAL: Mount Pleasant’s Brad King and Trevor Douglas ahead of game 200 this week. Picture: JIM ALDERSEY
WHEN it comes to footy milestones, Brad King and Trevor Douglas have enjoyed their fair share together at Mount Pleasant.
They both played their first games for the club on the same day; the same for their 150th; have played in a couple of flags together and on Saturday will celebrate another joint milestone - their 200th games.
King and Douglas will notch their 200th games for the Blues in the opening round of the Heathcote District Football League season against Leitchville-Gunbower at Gunbower.
When it comes to reflecting on their journey to 200 games, King and Douglas - both aged 32 - are casual, to say the least.
Neither can remember who their first game was against, but believe it would have been the Blues' opening game of 2003.
Which means that first game was against the Blues' arch-rival Heathcote and was a 63-point win for Mount Pleasant.
King kicked two goals for the Blues and Douglas was named in the best players.
Both King (Sandhurst) and Douglas (Golden Square) joined Mount Pleasant from Bendigo Football League clubs and have been remarkably durable, missing just nine games over their 12 seasons at Toolleen.
"I had a few mates out there and Justin Gee who was coaching at the time had been on my back for a while to go out there. It sounded like a good club that had been successful, so I was keen to try and win a couple of flags with them," utility King said.
"It's a fantastic family club. The kids love it out there and it's great to be involved with."
King and Douglas both played in the Blues' back-to-back premierships of 2005-06, and have seen the full cycle at Mount Pleasant after the Blues also went a rare five seasons in a row between 2009 and 2013 without playing finals.
"They were a tough few years, especially after playing in finals all the time in those first few years and winning a couple of flags," Douglas said.
"We always thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it probably took a bit longer than we were hoping.
"But we're getting back up there now and building for something special."
The Blues returned to the finals last year, bowing out in the first semi-final to eventual premier Lockington-Bamawm United.
Douglas is confident the Blues can continue their improvement this season under coach Derrick Filo.
"We've got a lot of new players and it will take a while to gel, but we think by round five or six we'll be playing some good footy," Douglas said.
"A lot of people have probably written us off and we'll be a bit of an unknown, but we think we can surprise a few and go alright."
As well as unable to remember who his debut game was against, ruckman Douglas' casual approach to reflecting on his career is also evident in his captaincy.
He has previously captained the Blues but "I couldn't tell you for how many years... five or six I reckon."
Douglas, who originally moved to Bendigo from Gippsland for university, won the Blues' best and fairest in his first year at the club, and a second "three or four years later".
Meanwhile, Mount Pleasant will hold a Family Day at the Toolleen Tin Shed on Sunday, April 19.