Corowa-Rutherglen stalwart Kade Kuschert will play his 300th league game against a desperate Wangaratta Rovers on Saturday.
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It will be his 296th game for the Roos and he also played four interleague matches.
The 34-year-old debuted in 2000, but didn’t play in that premiership, joining future St Kilda draftee Josh Houlihan in the thirds flag.
However, the reliable defender soon graduated to the senior ranks on a full-time basis, playing in the Roos’ last premiership in 2003.
During his time, Kuschert has been the target of numerous district clubs.
“I just wanted to play the best standard of footy I could,” he said.
“I set that goal pretty much when I left the (Murray) Bushrangers to play the highest standard for as long as I could.
I always wanted to challenge myself and you can only really challenge yourself against the best and I felt the best was playing Ovens and Murray.
- Kade Kuschert
“I never had any desire to go out that way (to district clubs).
“I always wanted to challenge myself and you can only really challenge yourself against the best and I felt the best was playing Ovens and Murray.”
It’s a philosophy and loyalty all clubs would love and particularly when you consider the Roos have played finals just once in the past eight years.
In fact, the club’s last finals win was the 2003 flag.
“You can’t surpass that (as the highlight), but even just seeing the kids coming through (Joe Hansen, Hayden Filliponi, etc), like I coached the under 18s a couple of years back and now I’m getting to play footy with a lot of those kids too, so that’s a highlight as well,” he said.
“We’ve always had good kids around the club so I wanted to try and keep them going in the right direction, show them that if they do persevere with it, there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Roos snapped the league’s second-longest losing streak of 38 games in the round one clash against Wangaratta Rovers.
“It just gave the kids an insight into what it’s all about, all the hard work you put in,” he said.
“I’m more happy for them, moreso then myself, there’s a bit of a reward for effort.”
During his 19 seasons, Kuschert has tackled the league’s best forwards.
“(Former Wodonga player) Darren Bradshaw was probably the pick of them he was probably the hardest one to play on, he just knew how to use his body and position himself,” he said.
The Roos will host the Hawks, who are winless.
