MELBOURNE ruckman Jeff White will line up for his 100th consecutive game this Sunday, his 261st in total, and suggests the scar on his right shin, which is about the size of a tablespoon, has a lot to do with his endurance.

White got the scar early in 2003, the result of a tight shin guard splitting open the skin when he was kicked in the leg.

He missed a game because of it, but returned for the rest of the season before an injury to the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee caused him to sit out the final two rounds.

That was the last time he missed a game — the broken jaw he received when Geelong's Steven King accidentally kicked him in the face happened in the final round of 2005 — and the seriousness of that shin injury and knowing it almost cost him his career at age 26, has driven him through the past five seasons.

"It was a bit of a reality check in 2003 when my surgeon Graeme Southwick said 'if you open it up again there's not really much I can do, you are going to have to call it quits,' " White said yesterday.

"The shin's healthy now, there's blood running through there now, it used to be black. I got an infection a few times and when you get an infection, because it was right on the bone, there's a risk of getting gangrene. And we play in an environment where we can get dirt and soil in there.

"Mentally it taught me to be really strong and I think that's how I have got to the position I am now. I've been able to deal with injury and adversity out there and I think because of the shin injury always being there, I think it has kept my focus stronger."

Despite his side's underperformance this season, White is in some of the best form of his career and was selected in the 40-man Big V squad for the Hall of Fame match last weekend. He was unlucky not to make the cut for the 25-man squad, Richmond's Troy Simmonds getting the nod ahead of him.

"I was just privileged to be in that squad of 40, would have been great to be in the squad of 25. Luckily I got the opportunity to play in 1998 but it would have been good to play for the Big V. A little bit disappointed but life goes on," he said.

He credits his good form this season to an adjustment of his planning for games, focusing on short-term goals.

"In the past I would have set goals maybe five weeks in advance. Now I have narrowed it to every week and it has really helped me focus on what I need to do during the week to counteract my opponent," he said.