One of the great anomalies of Australian sport ends on Friday night when David Neitz becomes the first Melbourne player to reach 300 premiership games in the VFL/AFL.
To give this some context, the Demons are the oldest sporting club in Australia (founded 1858), and one of the oldest in the world.
Of the eight foundation clubs that began the VFL in 1897, Sydney (nee South Melbourne) is the only other organisation not to have a 300-gamer, with forward Michael O'Loughlin the record holder on 266 matches before this weekend's round.
Appropriately, club skipper Neitz will reach the milestone at his – and his side's – beloved MCG, as the 'away' team to Collingwood.
Even given Melbourne's miserable season, with just four wins from 19 matches, it would be a disgrace if every Demons fan possible didn't make the effort to get along to the G to honour – statistically- their greatest servant.
Melbourne has won 12 premierships in its colourful history – half of them coming in a 10-season window between 1955 and 1964. The nail-biting 1964 triumph over the Magpies remains their last title, and provides evidence why – as seasons have got longer, and players fitter – just one player of the club's top 13 in terms of games played (Brian Dixon, sixth, 252 games) is a premiership player.
Obviously Neitz tops that list of non-premiership players in red and blue, but he holds a trifecta of club records that, as a collective, may never be broken – at least certainly not by another Victorian-based club.
He is the Demons games record holder (299), goals record holder (623) and most matches as captain record holder (168).
When you compare those 'records' to other greats of the game, it is a staggering statistic. Players have played more games than Neitz, kicked more goals than him and skippered longer than him, but the combination of being the No.1 ranked player at a club in all three categories is the veteran full-forward's sole domain.
The newest club in the AFL, Port Adelaide, has Warren Tredrea as its games and goals record holder, but he still isn't the Power's longest-serving captain. The closest any of the other 'expansion' franchises come is Adelaide with Mark Ricciuto, who is the Crows longest-serving captain but sits second in both games (309) and goals (289).
It is when you cast your eye over the older clubs that the uniqueness of Neitz's records hit home. Leaving the longevity as captain aside, the likes of Collingwood's Gordon Coventry (second in games, first in goals); Essendon's Simon Madden (first in games, second in goals); Hawthorn's Leigh Matthews (second and second); and Richmond's Kevin Bartlett (first in games, second in goals) come close but don't have top billing in both.
The injury-riddled 2007 endured by Chris Grant has – depending on a retirement decision in a few weeks time – cost the Western Bulldog star the chance to join Neitz (and Tredrea) as a holder of his club's games and goals records.
He was already the Dogs games record-holder at the start of the season, but needed 26 goals to wrest the club record from Simon Beasley. The fact he has managed just four matches (and three goals) has put those thoughts to rest.
But back to Neitz. Given he also played a lot of very good football as a centre half-back