THERE have been few more revered captains in VFL/AFL history than Stephen Kernahan. The Glenelg star became a Carlton legend as he led the Blues to two flags across 11 years, during which 'Sticks' would regularly drag his team over the line with some ice-veined kicking.
Kernahan's 226 games unbroken as Carlton captain is the longest streak for any player at the head of a club, but St Kilda's Nick Riewoldt could just be the one to chase it down.
Riewoldt has captained St Kilda in 191 matches, however, that includes 15 games as skipper in 2005 before Luke Ball took over in 2006. His unbroken run as skipper of the Saints stands at 176 games.
That means he needs another 50 games as captain to overtake Kernahan's consecutive run. And who would put it past the St Kilda champion to lead his club for another two years and help the Saints with their rapid rise?
At 32, Riewoldt is again in All Australian form and shows no signs of slowing down.
Check out who else is challenging history this weekend.
| Club | Club | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew Pavlich* | Fremantle | 173 games |
| Jarrad McVeigh | Sydney Swans | 109 games |
| Jobe Watson | Essendon | 107 games |
| Luke Hodge* | Hawthorn | 87 games |
| Club | Streak |
|---|---|
| Essendon | 4 games |
| Brisbane Lions | 4 games |
| Carlton | 3 games |
| Greater Western Sydney | 3 games |
| Umpire | Streak |
|---|---|
| Justin Schmitt | 19 seasons |
| Brett Rosebury | 16 seasons |
| Scott Jeffrey | 15 seasons |
| Dean Margetts | 14 seasons |
| Player | Club | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| Travis Cloke | Collingwood | 9 seasons |
| Lance Franklin | Sydney Swans/Hawthorn | 9 seasons |
| Jack Riewoldt | Richmond | 7 seasons |
- Statistics supplied by AFL statistician Cameron Sinclair
