Fremantle champion David Mundy is keen to power through his latest milestone and play on in 2023 after launching informal talks with the club about extending his career into a 20th season.
Mundy will move into 10th place on the all-time VFL/AFL games played list when he lines up against Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, drawing level with Footscray and Fitzroy great Bernie Quinlan on 366 games.
The 36-year-old could move as high as equal seventh by the end of the season and was confident he had plenty of football left in him, using the mid-season break to express his desire with the club to play on.
"I still love the Monday to Friday grind and the competitive nature of football, and I'm still really thriving on that, so I'll be here until they kick me out," Mundy said on Thursday.
"I can't put a number on it (games left), but I know that within games at the moment I'm feeling quite good off a pretty limited pre-season.
"I rolled my ankle prior to Christmas and didn't get much in after that, so I came into the year with a bit of a feeling that it might be a bit of a build for me throughout.
"I'm recovering and pulling up from games really well and I'm still getting a whole lot of training in during the week."
Mundy, who overtook Fremantle champion Matthew Pavlich as the club games record holder last season, was caught unaware of his latest milestone this week but said the extent of his achievement had since sunk in.
"It was put to me earlier in the week that this was coming up (and) at the time I replied that milestones aren't something I think about too much. I certainly didn't know this was coming," he said.
"But in the couple of days since, the magnitude in football that it represents and the challenges and barriers that I've overcome from a WA-based team puts it into perspective and it's pretty rare.
"It makes me reflect on the help I've had behind the scenes from people at the football club, my family and friends, and people away from football. It means a lot to me, but it means a lot to other people."
Recruited with pick No.19 in the 2003 NAB AFL Draft, Mundy made his debut in 2005 and was a crucial part of the club's most successful era between 2012-15, playing in all nine finals through that period.
Driven by the prospect of being part of a successful Fremantle team, he said he was making the most of his time in 2022 as the Dockers push to end a six-year finals drought.
"It's certainly been a long time out and it's been a grinding focus for the entire club over those years," Mundy said.
"To bottom out like we did and really grind our way back and take a little while to get back to the potential position we're in, it's been a long time coming.
"One thing I'm reflecting on a lot at the moment is that these opportunities aren't given. We don't have any right and we have to take what we can get.
"What we've achieved so far this year has been on the back of really hard work and something we're not taking for granted."
What sets Mundy apart from the top 10
Gallery: Main training 22 June
The numbers behind Mundy's rise to the top 10
