Paul Hasleby will become just the fourth Fremantle player to reach the 150-game milestone when he lines up against Melbourne this Sunday at the MCG.

Hasleby joins inaugural squad members Shane Parker and Shaun McManus, and Club Captain Matthew Pavlich as players to have achieved the honour.

“It’s a good feeling and something I’m very proud of,” Hasleby told the media on Monday.

Since making his first appearance for the club in 2000, the Northampton native has built an impressive career with Fremantle. He announced himself as one of the competition’s players of the future in his debut year by claiming the AFL Rising Star Award and runner-up honours in the Doig Medal count.

2003 was also a watershed year for Hasleby, earning All-Australian honours, selection for the International Rules series against Ireland, and finishing third in the Doig Medal.

He also finished runner-up in the Doig Medal in 2004.

With all of the acquired honours behind him, reaching 150 games was always on the menu. The only hiccup on the way to the milestone came last season when a chronic groin injury sidelined him for nine matches.

“I thought all things going well last year I might have played (my 150th), but obviously I fell down through injury,” Hasleby said.

Post season surgery to fix the problem has since seen the prolific ball winner overcome the injury and allowed him to resume his key role in the midfield.

“Whenever you have a big operation like I did you always have doubts in the back of your mind whether you are going to come back at all and also come back as the same player,” he said.

“It’s something you have got to work through. I’m just really happy to be there in the end.”

Hasleby said he had noticed a marked improvement in recovery time following matches since the operation, describing his body as feeling “magnificent” after picking up 24 possessions in Saturday night’s Carlton Mid Derby.

“It was the first time in a long time where I have pulled up from a game with no soreness. The body is feeling a million dollars,” he said.

Hasleby’s time on the field has also increased across the three matches so far this season.

“If you have been tracking my game time I have been playing around 80 per cent of the matches. I have improved a little bit (on my match time) over the last few weeks and I’m hoping to step up a little bit more each week. I would like to end up playing 85-87 per cent of matches,” he said.

The 25 year old said the increasing game time was giving him the chance to improve and refine his skills after his interrupted 2006 season.

“A big sign of when I’m playing well is the way I’m moving around the stoppages and my touch around the ball and also my kicking. A few of the things are starting to come back and with each game I’m growing in confidence and I hope I can keep going,” he said.

Hasleby will get the chance to keep going when Fremantle meets the Demons on Sunday at the MCG. The home of football has historically been a happy hunting ground for Fremantle and Hasleby believes the team’s success at the ground will hold them in good stead as they prepare to record their first win for the season.

“It’s a big challenge for us to go over there and play at the MCG. It is a ground we have had a pretty good record at over the past three or four years so we are pretty confident we can play it well and chalk up a win,” he said.

“I think the underlying thing is we think we’re not that far away from winning one and hopefully getting on a bit of a roll. We’re doing a lot of things right. We just have to keep working on it and I think the wheel will turn.

“We’ve been concentrating on the positive things. We had 59 tackles on the weekend so the intensity was right. We’ve just got to structure up a bit differently and we’ll be OK.”