• The Inquirer: Fletcher's milestone in facts and figures
• The Streak: Who's challenging history in round nine?

HERE'S a remarkable thing about Dustin Fletcher.

Had he not missed the equivalent of over five full seasons through suspension and injury, he could be lining up at the MCG against Richmond for game number 518.

Playing 400 matches in a sport as physically unforgiving as Australian Football is, of course, achievement enough.

So unattainable has the milestone proven in the VFL/AFL that on Saturday night Fletcher joins Michael Tuck and Kevin Bartlett as the 400 club's only three members.

The 17-year-old Fletcher was still a student when he made his debut for the Bombers against Carlton in 1993. Six months later, he'd won his first of two premierships. 

His second flag would arrive in 2000, by which time the gangly defender was already a seven-year veteran at Windy Hill. 

Fifteen years on, in a salute to perhaps footy's most durable athlete, we've stitched together a GIF from all 23 of Fletch's pre-season portraits. 

We think you'll agree, he's hardly aged a bit.