THE odds have been stacked against Simon Wiggins playing 100 AFL games, but the self-confessed worrier has spent years defying the odds.

One of seven Carlton recruits in 2000, Wiggins recalls his arrival at Princes Park being greeted with an ominous warning from former premiership player and current coach Brett Ratten.

"I remember 'Ratts' saying 'in seven years there's only going to be one of you left, that's how AFL football is'. Unfortunately there's only me left, but I'm proud to still be here," he said.

Between them Wiggins' fellow recruits — Trent Sporn, Luke Livingston, Callan Beasy, Blake Campbell, Sam Cranage and Sean O'Keefe — played 136 games. That's how AFL football is.

In the seven years and 90 days between his first and 100th games Wiggins has missed another 89.

Known as "the Chief" to Blues fans, he's also flown well below the media radar and reluctantly agreed to his first press conference to help mark his milestone.

"It's not my cup of tea, I'd rather hide away in the shadows," he said with a grin.

"This sort of business isn't my go, I'm happy to leave that to 'Juddy' (Chris Judd) and 'Murph' (Marc Murphy) and all those boys."

Wiggins, or "Wiggo" to his coach, has battled chronic hamstring problems since leaving Glenorchy in Tasmania and failed to play every game in any of his eight seasons.

On Sunday against the Bulldogs he becomes the third player from Glenorchy to notch 100 games for the Blues, following in the footsteps of wingman John Chick and defender Eric Huxtable.

Perhaps more significantly for Wiggins is the realisation of a long-held dream to have his name forever etched on the No. 34 locker as a 100-game player for the club.

"It's something I've always wanted since the day I stepped into the club," he said.

"I saw all the names on my locker, Ian Robertson, Alex Marcou and Ron De Iulio and I wanted to be alongside them."

While Robertson made his name across the centre, Marcou as a fleet-footed rover and De Iulio played forward and back, Wiggins has been "a bit of a parts player" since debuting against St Kilda in 2001.

After starting in a back pocket, the former first-round draft pick (No. 15 overall) reckons he's played every position on the ground, at least once, except the ruck.

However, playing a role, rather than a position, quickly became more important to Wiggins.

"The first few years (after) moving interstate, moving away from your family, trying to start uni and trying to get everything right outside of football, it's a lot harder than I thought it would be," he said.

"One week you might go all right and the next week things don't work out - it's a week to week thing and I've never been able to look too far forward with my career.

"I've just looked forward to the week after and eventually I got here, so I'm really proud."

Sharing the milestone this weekend is Wiggins' wife, Loudy, who was ruled out of Australia's Olympic diving team after tearing a calf muscle at the national trials in April. He said Loudy, a bronze medallist at the Athens Olympics in 2004, had been a great supporter and understood the mental preparation needed to perform at the elite level.

"It's a bit hard at the moment for 'Louds', but she can take a bit of positivity out of my career … instead of worrying about the misfortune she's had. The mental part of her sport is huge, it's all about knuckling down, focusing on technique and she's been good for me (she) tells the truth and doesn't pump me up as much as what your mum and dad do after games."

During his time at the club Wiggins has rarely felt the Blues were capable of sustained competitiveness. "You get a bit down and it's not as much fun as you'd hope," he said.

But that has changed. "This year every game we go into I'm thinking we're a real chance, we can knock this team off, we can knock any team off … it's really exciting."

SIMON WIGGINS
Drafted by Carlton at No.15 in 2000.
Matches per year
2001: 6
2002: 18
2003: 15
2004: 11
2005: 13
2006: 13
2007: 13
2008: 10
Total: 99