Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti will break Essendon's consecutive games record in the AFL era when he faces Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night.
The 27-year-old will surpass 2000 premiership player Mark Johnson on 82 consecutive games, having already overtaken teammate Joe Daniher (79) in the round two win over Sydney.
He'll also climb to outright seventh on Essendon's overall consecutive games tally behind former VFL stars Don McKenzie (94), Elton Plummer (98), Allan Hird (102), Geoff Gosper (114), Frank Maher (118) and Jack Jones (133).
It's yet another achievement in McDonald-Tipungwuti's fascinating and well-documented journey.
Born on the Tiwi Islands and donning the No.43 made famous by fellow Tiwi star Dean Rioli, he moved to Gippsland at the age of 16 to better his chances of playing AFL.
He spent two seasons with Gippsland Power and three with Essendon VFL before finally earning a spot on the Bombers' rookie list in 2016.
Since then, the man affectionately known as 'Walla' hasn't looked back, missing just one of a possible 82 games and booting 103 goals to capture fans' hearts.
Bombers GM of list and recruiting Adrian Dodoro said McDonald-Tipungwuti's rise was a credit to his resilience and professionalism.
"After he left Gippsland Power, we invited him to our VFL program, and the club supported our decision by giving him a job at the club," Dodoro said on Dodcast in May.
"We just set him some challenges about getting fit and getting his body in shape. It took him a couple of years to do that, but he hasn't looked back. He's set himself some really high standards in terms of how he goes about his training program now. He's a real pro.
"He just had to come through a different pathway, but these are the great stories. These are the stories about kids with absolute resilience, and that's what Walla's got.
"We've spoken about 'Pev' (former Bomber Damien Peverill) and other boys who have come through VFL programs, but here's a young kid from Tiwi who relocated to Gippsland, and he's done an amazing job. We're really proud of him."
