Having started playing football as an eight-year-old, Patrick Savage now sits above the rest at Albion after breaking the club’s games record.
Savage played 445 in the club’s division 1 win against Parkside on Good Friday, breaking Aaron Tymms record of 444 games.
“It was a good day,” he said. “It was really special.
“You don’t play footy to achieve those sorts of things, I was lucky and proud of the history and my longevity to get to that point.
“I’ll look back on it.”
The games record includes both juniors and seniors, with Savage having played in every age group from under-10s through to reserves and seniors.
He won an under-16 league best and fairest award in 2005 among other awards and was a reserves premiership player in 2009.
Savage said the highlight of his career came the next year, as he was part of Albion’s A-grade premiership side.
Among one of his early teammates was Tymms, who was there as Savage passed his record.
Tymms, who was there to pass on the record on Good Friday, then later coached him.
“He’s a good friend of mine,” Savage said. “I have a lot of respect.
“He joked about playing a game in the reserves on the weekend to make me play another game to get the record.”
The Cats marked the milestone with a special day for Savage, with him saying it was fantastic what they had done for him.
“I tried to treat it like a normal game,” he said. “It’s always been home, I’ve always played footy there.”
Savage said he had thought about giving up playing the past couple of years, but felt he was still in good physical shape to continue playing.
He said there were two things that kept him coming back each year.
“I love the game of footy and my mates,” he said. “The mateship keeps me coming back.
“We’re all in the team together.”
Savage said the other reason he wanted to keep playing was to help the side firstly to get back into division 1 and then stay up there. They returned to the top flight this season.
The Cats celebrated Savage’s milestone with a win against Parkside.
It was the side’s second win of the season. Savage is already focused on the rest of the season.
The Cats are set to face Newport on Saturday.
“We move on to this week and see how we go,” he said. “The group is enjoying the transition.
“Last year the draw was lopsided in division 2. In division 1 it’s a really competitive game each week.”
