Two Essendon veterans lead the AFL Weekly Update 'milestone' section heading into Round 1 of the 2009 season which starts next week.
 
Matthew Lloyd needs just eight goals to reach the 900-goal milestone while Matthew Scarlett is set to join Dustin Fletcher in the top-six for father-son games played (Dustin and Ken lead the list with 558 games).
 
PROGRAM OF MATCHES (all times are local)

There are no matches this weekend. The 2009 Toyota AFL Premiership Season commences the following weekend:

Round One

Thursday March 26

Richmond v Carlton at the MCG, 7.40pm

Friday March 27

Hawthorn v Geelong Cats at the MCG, 7.40pm

Saturday March 28

Collingwood v Adelaide at the MCG, 2.10pm

Brisbane Lions v West Coast Eagles at the Gabba, 7.10pm

St Kilda v Sydney Swans at Docklands, 7.10pm

Sunday March 29

Melbourne v North Melbourne at the MCG, 1.10pm

Port Adelaide v Essendon at AAMI Stadium, 3.10pm

Fremantle v Western Bulldogs at Subiaco, 7.10pm

IMPENDING MILESTONES

150 games umpired - Scott Jeffery

100 games - Michael Osborne, Hawthorn

100 games - Rick Ladson, Hawthorn

100 games - Toby Thurstans, Port Adelaide

100 games - Matt Maguire, St Kilda

100 consecutive games - Adam Cooney, Western Bulldogs. Adam is due to play his 100th consecutive game in round one, dating back to Round 17, 2004. Only three AFL players currently have a consecutive games streak of 100 or more matches in progress, being Brett Kirk (154 games since round 15, 2002), Kane Cornes (127 games since round 17, 2003) and Tarkyn Lockyer (107 games since round 10, 2004).

Father / son combined games - Matthew Scarlett, Geelong. Matthew is due to play his 207th game in round one, taking the combined total for he and father John Scarlett (212 games) to 419 games and sixth position in the history of the game for a father / single son combination. The leading combinations are the Fletchers (558 games comprising 264 for Ken and 294 for Dustin), Silvagnis (551 games comprising 239 for Sergio and 312 for Stephen), Tucks (517 games comprising 426 for Michael and 91 for Shane), Whittens (465 games comprising 321 for Ted senior and 144 for Ted junior), Tucks again (435 games comprising 426 for Michael and nine for Travis), Richardsons (418 games comprising 277 for Wayne and 141 for Mark) and Scarletts.

900 goals - Matthew Lloyd, Essendon. Matthew needs nine goals to become the eighth player in the history of the game to reach 900 goals, joining Tony Lockett (1360 goals for St Kilda and Sydney Swans), Gordon Coventry (1299 goals for Collingwood), Jason Dunstall (1254 goals for Hawthorn), Doug Wade (1057 goals for Geelong Cats and North Melbourne), Gary Ablett senior (1030 goals for Hawthorn and Geelong Cats), Jack Titus (970 goals for Richmond) and Leigh Matthews (915 goals for Hawthorn).

800 goals - Matthew Richardson, Richmond. Matthew needs nine goals to become the 11th player in the history of the game to reach 800 goals, joining the players listed above, as well as Peter McKenna (874 goals for Collingwood and Carlton) and Bernie Quinlan (817 goals for the Western Bulldogs and Fitzroy).
 
TRIBUNAL MATCH REVIEW PROCESS
 
The following players were reported from the weekend's matches:

Clint Bartram, Melbourne, reported by umpire Jacob Mollison for making forceful front-on contact to Daniel Giansiracusa, Western Bulldogs, during the fourth quarter of the NAB Challenge match between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, played at Casey Fields on Saturday March 14, 2009.

Simon Wiggins, Carlton, reported by umpire Dean Margetts for engaging in rough conduct against Greg Broughton, Fremantle, during the second quarter of the NAB Challenge match between Carlton and Fremantle, played at Bunbury on Saturday March 14, 2009.

2009 NAB CUP ATTENDANCES

The AFL wishes to advise attendances for the 2009 NAB Cup reached a total 282,930, a rise of 18 per cent on the 2008 NAB Cup, which totalled 239,898 fans.