When Liam Picken was rookie listed, the thought of playing even 50 career games was a pipedream, but on Sunday the Williamstown recruit will reach the long awaited ton - and it is a milestone that he is not taking lightly.

Picken’s AFL aspirations began well before the Western Bulldogs called out his name in the 2009 rookie draft, having previously trialled at Whitten Oval and Collingwood only to return to the VFL to ply his trade.

It wasn’t until the Seagulls agreed to partially fund his first year on the Bulldogs rookie list that Picken was given his AFL chance and the midfielder was quick to repay the faith, playing 23 games in his first season – including a preliminary final. 

“Starting back I was just looking forward to my first game, I remember playing against North Melbourne and I got picked and I never thought I could play more than 50 games,” Picken said.

“I was very thankful that Williamstown could push me up to get me on the list here.”

Soaking in the knowledge of those around him, Picken made the most of his opportunities, not restricting himself to one mentor and instead trying to adopt the good habits from all the senior players.

“I suppose it wasn’t just one player, but I just looked up to all the senior guys when I first got here, Matty Boyd, Crossy and Brad Johnson,” he said.

“I just looked at the way they were training, just took little things from every player so just tried to latch onto the back of them.”

In 2012, Picken continued to make strides in his professional career, ranking third in the Charles Sutton Medal, as well as receiving the Brad Johnson Team Player award – made more significant by the fact that his fellow players and peers weigh in on the results.

The 26-year-old will line up in Bulldogs colours for the 100^th time on Sunday, facing Essendon at Etihad Stadium from 3:20pm.