It will be a day of celebration at Oxley Oval on April 29 when Hastings Valley Vikings stalwart David Tunstead creates club history.
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The man affectionately known as "Tunny" will run out for game 250 when the Vikings start their 2023 premiership defence against Port Macquarie Pirates - a feat no other Viking has achieved.
"You're joking," mum Sue said when informed of the milestone match.
While it will be a day for celebration, it will be tinged with some sadness following the death of Tunstead's father - Pete - at the end of 2021.
Mrs Tunstead said there was no doubt he would be watching down over the Vikings' spiritual home come kick-off.
"His father is probably looking down on him thinking 'you're still playing rugby, you've just got to learn to run'," she said.
Tunstead originally started his footy career in rugby league as a five-year-old, but then tried his hand at union 11 years later.
"When he was five years old he wanted to play league and back in those days I was working as a barmaid, started work at five or six o'clock in the afternoon and I'd finish at 2am on the Saturday morning," Mrs Tunstead recalled.
"I'd be up at 6am and drive to Taree so he could play, but he'd sit on the bench and as he got older he got better."
A decision made as a 16-year-old proved to be the best decision he ever made and little more than 12 months later he was playing first grade as a flanker.
From that point onwards "Tunny" remained a regular in the Vikings first grade team where he struck up a friendship with now-club president David Barnes.
The two spent 15 seasons playing alongside each other.
"He's pretty dedicated and sticks to his guns so I thought he would have slowed down a bit now, but it's good to see him still playing and he's still young," Barnes said.
"To get to 250 games when you're averaging only 12 or 13 games a season is pretty awesome, especially when the club has only been around for 27 years.
"He's the only one to reach 250 games."
Barnes admitted "Tunny" was the epitome of what it meant to be a Viking.
"As a player, definitely... he's always played with that Viking spirit although he's had some indifferent times off the field, but he's played well for the Vikings," he said.
The clash with the Pirates will also see other club milestones reached with captain Lyndon Gale (100 games) and Tom Hetherington (150 games).
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