When David Mundy plays his 366th AFL game on Saturday against Carlton, he will enter the top 10 for games played in the AFL/VFL.
From the AFL/VFL’s approximately 13,000 players in league history, only 31.5 per cent have made the 50 game milestone. By entering the top 10, Mundy is among the top 0.08 per cent of players.
Like Mundy, every other player in the top 10 is Victorian, but Mundy is the first to achieve the feat while based outside of Victoria.
It’s this fact that makes Mundy’s achievements even more impressive, according to senior coach Justin Longmuir.
“Really it's unbelievable, it speaks for itself,” Longmuir said.
“In its own right, it's an amazing effort but given he’s played all his career in the west and had to travel so much, it just adds to it, I think.
“To do it at such a high level, in multiple roles, I think he's been a champion of the game and I think we'll be having these conversations regularly as he creeps his way up that games played ladder.”
Longmuir said he can rely on Mundy to be an ‘on-field coach’ due to his significant experience and football intelligence.
“It’s his organisation, game sense and understanding to make decisions under pressure, and in situations where others don't pick up those cues,” Longmuir said.
“He's always organising his teammates, he's always making sure he is positioning himself in the right spots to stop the opposition from transitioning the ball. He's able to take on information and implement it straight away.
“I've said plenty of times he's like an on field coach. He's really invested in the strategy of the game and I think that shows through on the field.”
The numbers behind Mundy's rise to the top 10
While Longmuir conceded that Fremantle had been resting Mundy in games, he said the 36-year-old was still building after an interrupted pre-season due to an ankle injury.
“Sometimes with his output, we forget his age and the work he's done, so we'll keep looking at opportunities to manage him,” Longmuir said.
“I'm not necessarily sure he's really looking for a break. I think he feels like he's just coming into his own with his fitness, because he missed so much preseason, he was on the back foot from the start.
“We'll make sure we do what's best for him.”
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