David Mundy will qualify for AFL Life Membership when he runs out for Fremantle against the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium this Saturday, finding out about the impending honour from a surprise text message.
Mundy is set to pass the prerequisite 300 league sanctioned games milestone, which includes pre-season and International Rules games.
The 32-year-old will play his 277th game at AFL level against the Bulldogs, joining his 21 pre-season games and two International Rules appearances.
“It’s obviously a pretty big moment, I only found out this morning when (AFL media manager) Patrick Keane messaged me to congratulate me,” Mundy said.
“As AFL is such a week-to-week focus, sometimes you get lost in that ‘next week’ mentality. So it’s snuck up on me.
“It’s a lot of games and it testifies to the professionalism of our sports science and physio department and, hopefully, my own diligence.”
GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE LEN HALL GAME
Mundy will become the second Fremantle player to earn the honour, joining Matthew Pavlich who played 353 games for Fremantle at AFL level.
Pavlich celebrated his final AFL game at Domain Stadium against the Western Bulldogs in 2016 - the Doggies final loss before going on to win the premiership that year.
Fremantle were also the first team to defeat the Bulldogs since they lifted the cup, with an upset win in round three of the 2017 season at Domain Stadium.
The last time the Bulldogs defeated Fremantle in Perth was in round one, 2009 and Mundy hopes Freo can keep the run going at their new home ground.
“I can still remember last year’s game at Subiaco, it was really noisy and energetic late in the game,” Mundy said.
“We finished that game quite well. Hopefully, it can be an entertaining game for everyone and we can have 60,000 Fremantle fans there this week giving us the same kind of support.
Mundy is wary of the Bulldogs after they nearly pulled off an upset win against Sydney in round four.
“They’ve really picked up since round two," Mundy said.
"On the weekend I saw a bit of their game and they were really frantic with their defensive pressure and manic around the ball.
“It’s going to be a great test for us this week and we’re back home so, hopefully, we can rebound from a poor weekend ourselves. The fans will come out and support us so we can really turn it around.”
The game will be commemorated as the 23rd annual Len Hall Tribute Game ahead of Anzac Day on Wednesday.
This year will also acknowledge the 100th year since the Armistice that ended World War One in November 1918.
“The game means a lot,” Mundy said.
“We’re out there representing our Fremantle brotherhood and family and our own families back home, so in a way it symbolises the many before us who went through to make Australia what it is today.
“We’re very fortunate to live here on the back of their sacrifices many years ago. It’s a big day for the nation and it’s a big day for us and we hope to go really well in our Len Hall Games every year.”
