Wangaratta's Daine Porter will become the third games record holder in 12 months on Saturday night.
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Porter will play his 266th game in the preliminary final re-match against Wodonga Raiders at the Pies' Norm Minns Oval, breaking Brett Keir's 25-year-old record of 265 games.
"'Keiry's' a highly respected player at the club, I think his record speaks for itself, he was a fearless fullback and to take the record off 'Keiry' is a big honour and I feel a bit guilty doing it," Porter said.
The 32-year-old midfielder-cum-forward retired after the stunning 2017 grand final win over Albury, citing family and his decade of travel from Melbourne.
However, Porter moved back to Wangaratta shortly after and decided to spend a season with Ovens and King outfit Tarrawingee, where he won the best and fairest and best on ground in the premiership.
"I think it's a great effort by him because he travelled all that time," Keir said.
Keir played for 16 seasons from 1979, starting at centre half-back before moving to fullback for the last six years.
He never snared a flag as the Pies twice finished minor premiers only to bow out in straight sets, but did capture two Victoria Country titles in 14 rep games.
And in a nice touch, Keir and a small group cook soup for the three football grades every Tuesday.
"I cook some different ones, they always ask me what's in it, it could be duck, or maybe kangaroo tail soup, it could be anything, I keep them guessing," he laughed.
Former North Albury star Dan Leslie broke Stan Sargeant's 289-game record on last year's corresponding weekend, while, ironically, Yarrawonga's Xavier Leslie broke Ken 'Pascoe' Ellis' mark of 265 matches last May.
Wangaratta is the competition favourites, so Raiders' coach Jarrod Hodgkin faces a tough initiation after the club had four years under Daryn Cresswell.
"Having big Brodie A'Vard in the middle will change things up with our stoppages this year," he said.
"Last year we had one of the best midfields in the comp., but we couldn't quite nail it having a smaller ruckman.
"We had a few makeshift ruckmen, Jordan Rouse and Daniel Bowles who spent time in there and while you're doing that you're taking away their strengths on what they can do around the ground."
Raiders also have a new captain in 22-year-old Brad St John, who will play his 100th game, while representative Pies' defender Jamie Anderson clocks up 50 matches.
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