PAUL Roos will reach a significant milestone this round, when he participates in his 589th official VFL/AFL match as a player and coach – drawing him equal 10th in the game’s history, along with the late, great Tom Hafey.
Roos will achieve his outstanding achievement when he coaches Melbourne against Port Adelaide at Traeger Park in Alice Springs on Saturday.
On top of his 356 matches as a player, the 51-year-old has coached 232 games with the Swans and Melbourne.
For the record, legendary football figure Kevin Sheedy holds the record with 919 games: 251 games as a player and 668 games as a coach.
Next on the list is Michael Malthouse (892 games – 174 games as player and 718 games as coach), Jock McHale (878 games – 261 games as player/player-coach and 617 games as coach only), Leigh Matthews (793 games – 332 games as player and 461 games as coach), David Parkin (729 games – 211 games as player and 518 games as coach), Ron Barassi (719 games – 254 games as player/player-coach and 465 games as coach only), Norm Smith (659 games – 227 games as player and 432 games as coach), Allan Jeans (652 games – 77 games as player and 575 games as coach), Robert Walls (606 games – 259 games as player and 347 games as coach), Tom Hafey (589 games – 67 games as player and 522 games as coach) and Roos (588 games – 356 games as player and 232 games as coach).
Roos’ effort will happen in the the same round as Essendon great Dustin Fletcher reaching 400 games. The dual Essendon premiership player will become just the third player in VFL/AFL history to play 400 games, after Michael Tuck (426) and Kevin Bartlett (403).
Fletcher, 40, will play his 400th game against Richmond at the MCG on Saturday night and his milestone did not go unnoticed by Roos, who played his 356th and final match at age 35 years, 78 days in 1998.
“I know how hard it is and to be playing at 40 years of age and to be playing 400 games [is outstanding],” he said on Roos’ Views.
“Once you get to 34 or 35 and you have a string of bad games, you’re finished.
“So for him to not have a form slump at all … last year for two or three weeks maybe – but he hasn’t really had a constant form slump for five or six years, which is extraordinary. Once you do it at 35, they generally put the line through you.
“It’s an amazing effort and congratulations to him – he just seems like a super fella and a great clubman, and what everyone wants from one of their teammates, and you’d love to coach him.”
Only 11 players in the history of the game have played more matches than Roos and Bruce Doull, who also played 356 matches: Tuck (426), Bartlett (403), Fletcher (399), Brent Harvey (392), Robert Harvey (383), Simon Madden (378), Craig Bradley (375), Bernie Quinlan (366), Brad Johnson (364), John Blakey (359) and Adam Goodes (357).
