Ahead of his 200th AFL game on Friday night, star midfielder Dion Prestia spoke to Richmond Media about his journey to the milestone...

Reaching 200 AFL games

"It's exciting to play my 200th game after 13 seasons. It took a while to get here but I'm really proud that I can be a 200-game player. Playing it at Richmond has been awesome and I obviously played some games at Gold Coast as well, which is where I started my career and it really taught me to become a professional athlete and a footballer. It's going to be an exciting week for not only me but my family as well."

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Starting his career at Gold Coast

"It was a bit different to what I was expecting as a footballer coming in. I've got some unbelievable memories and some lifelong friends that I made on the Gold Coast. There were about 25 of us that were 18 years old, all trying to work out how to live and grow up all together.... moving out of home and living together with housemates. I lived with Josh Caddy after about six months of being away and we have some awesome memories from doing that. It feels like a long time ago when all that was happening and I got drafted. The move to Richmond has been unbelievable with our success and being able to grow more as a person and find other things that I love doing as well, so to have the opportunity to do that here is really amazing."

Making the move to Richmond at the end of 2016

"It's always pretty tough to move clubs after being at a place for a while. It was very nerve-wracking at the start, not really knowing what it was all about and Victoria being such a big footy state. But, I was just welcomed so well by 'Dimma' and the coaches and all the players. To have success in my first year probably wasn't what I was expecting, but we made some unbelievable memories. Football brings you a lot of great things and so does this Cub, I'm very proud to play 200 games."

Winning three premierships in his first four years at the Club

"Coming here, I was very confident in our list and that we could have success. To win a premiership in our first year, it was amazing. It's been an amazing journey and to have success so quickly in my Richmond career was amazing, it's something that I'll always be connected to... To be able to come back and do reunions every 10 or 20 years."

Bouncing back from injuries

"I haven't had too many significant injuries, but the hamstrings have held me back every now and then. I feel like it made me grow as a footballer and person, knowing that there's more to life than just playing footy and running around, and also showing that I can come back and recover and still play some good footy even if I have injuries throughout the year. So, I do a lot to manage all that stuff and a lot of work to make sure I can get out there every week and do it. Being able to play 200 games is amazing, you need to have a lot of luck and hard work to get there, so I feel no matter what happens from here, it's been awesome."

Highlights of his career so far

"The three premierships are a massive standout. Even though it was a tough year going up in 2020 in and living in the hub for a few months, it was one of the funnest times, it was tough but a really enjoyable year. And 2019, to win the Best & Fairest that year, I remember on the night sitting there looking at the list of previous winners and thinking to be a part of that list would be pretty incredible. Once I finish my career, I'll look back and think I was able to win hopefully more than three (premierships) and a Jack Dyer Medal, something I never really expected to do at the start of my career."

Tiger teammates

"It's a pretty amazing bond that we have here. There's a lot of different personalities and characters and the best thing I've learnt is to be myself. Football gives you amazing opportunities and adventures through life and we've done some amazing things on field. But, I think it's a lot of off-field stuff that you look back and have the most memories. Little things like getting coffee together and catching up over the weekend, going away on footy trips, they mean a lot to me. That's why you play the game, for each other and for your mates."

Thanking those in his corner

"To get to this point you have to have a lot of support. My parents, my mum and dad, and my sisters as well, they've shown me a lot of support, no matter how I'm going... They did a lot of work to get me into the AFL to kick off my career. They had to go to a lot of footy games when we were younger and they still always come to games and give me complete and absolute support. And my housemate Ivan Soldo, we've lived together for a few years now and it's always great fun."

Playing his 200th game on a Friday night at the 'G

"The Tiger Army was a massive reason why I came to Richmond and to play my 200th game on a Friday night against Geelong at the MCG is going to be amazing. Hopefully the Tiger Army can all get out there and support us."