Warrnambool footballer Darcy Graham to celebrate 150 senior games

The dedicated midfielder has endured a wretched run with injuries which has delayed his journey to 150 Hampden league senior games.

Graham, 29, will celebrate the feat against Camperdown at Reid Oval on Saturday on the same day good mate Jackson Bell reaches the 200-game mark.

It comes after Graham - a two-time premiership Blue and interleague representative - overcame a knee reconstruction and groin injuries in the latter half of his career.

"It's really special because my family has been heavily involved up there and the fact it's taken longer due to injuries has probably made it a little bit more special, making it to 150 because I didn't think I would play much longer," he told The Standard.

Graham, a welder by trade, snapped his anterior cruciate ligament in 2019 and battled a long-term groin issue last season.

He's now feeling fresh and has featured in 11 of the Blues' 12 games this year.

"It was nine or 10 months. It was a tough one to get over because you didn't have an end date," he said.

"With the knee injuries you've got 10 to 12 months whereas with that you're playing it by feel and you don't really know until you do a bit of running or play a game of footy and the next day you'll pull up really sore.

"It's good to get over it."

Graham is an avid runner and would love to complete a marathon post-football.

But the 2018 Maskell medal runner-up concedes it was his running program which played a part in his groin injury.

"(In the midfield) you're always around the ball and you rely on your fitness and that's probably my main attribute," Graham said.

"It's where I got my groin injury - I went over the top. It was during COVID and I was probably running 90 to 100 kilometres a week and training for marathons.

"These days I might have a jog on a Monday, go up to training (on Tuesday) and do a bit of a harder run before training and then do the two (footy) training sessions."

The Graham name is synonymous with Warrnambool.

Older brother Travis played 247 senior games, mainly as a key forward, while other brother Shane also represented the club.

Sisters Jenna and Stacey have played netball for the Reid Oval-based side too.

Graham is unsure how long his career will last but would "love to win another flag".

He was part of the Blues' back-to-back premierships in 2012-13 under coach Scott Carter when his career was in its infancy.

"It was a lot easier to play then. (A group of us) were sort of 19 or 20 and you were just as fresh as a daisy all the time, you never really had any niggles," Graham said.

"We played with some gun players like Jase Rowan, Josh Walters and Dusty McCorkell all in their prime. It was such a good time. I'd love to win another flag."

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