SINCE debuting for Osborne in 1998, Hayden Gleeson has ticked off almost every box imaginable.
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Premierships?
Yep, eight.
Best and fairests?
A couple.
The list goes on and on.
But if rival Hume league ruckmen think the big Cat is starting to struggle for motivation, they are in for a rude shock.
Gleeson is thriving as a 37-year-old and can’t imagine himself doing anything else but playing football for Osborne on a Saturday afternoon.
“I’ll keeping going for as long as I’m contributing,” Gleeson said.
“Hopefully I’ll still be playing when I’m 40.
“I’m enjoying it, so why not?
“My body is feeling alright at the moment.”
While Gleeson’s premierships in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2012 are his proudest moments, former coach Michael Buchanan remembers him for his courage in the 2004 grand final loss to Holbrook.
“He took fractured ribs or a sternum injury into that game but played the match out,” Buchanan said.
“It was a good effort.
“He played up forward and rucked with Cal McClay when Osborne won it the following year.
“He was pretty laid-back off the ground but a very consistent player in my two years at the club.”
Gleeson will become only the second Osborne player to notch up 300 senior matches when he runs out against Holbrook at Osborne on Saturday.
Darren Howard is the other.
Like Howard, Gleeson’s only football away from Osborne was a stint with Ovens and Murray power club Albury.
Another of Gleeson’s former coaches, Graham Hart, made him club captain in his first season at Osborne in 2006.
“He’s just a ripper,” Hart said.
"I played a bit against him when he had a run at Albury and he’s just the heart and soul of Osborne.
“He was a best and fairest in my time at the club and captain of the club and I think that speaks volumes for him.
“You won’t hear a person say a bad word about him in the Hume league which is fantastic as well.”
One of the reasons for that is his commitment to representative football.
While many have shied away from inter-league matches over the past two decades, Gleeson has been a regular.
“He always put his hand up,” Hart said.
“Sometimes it was to his detriment but it was something he wanted to do and I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s so well respected.
“From all reports he’s still playing pretty well so he might be around for a while longer.”