FOR THE best part of two years, a beaten-up Australia Post van with faded red paint was parked outside the Whitten Oval.

The Mercedes Sprinter had one seat and wasn't there to deliver packages to the Western Bulldogs' headquarters in Footscray. It was there to transport Tom Liberatore to and from the club at a time when 200 games seemed unlikely, at a time when the enigmatic star's best looked to be behind him.

That was the end of 2017 when the Bulldogs were dealing with a lingering premiership hangover having ended a 62-year flag drought a year earlier. Months later, Liberatore would rupture his ACL in the opening quarter of the first match of 2018, casting a shadow over his longevity in the game and making the surfboard he had in the back of his unusual vehicle of choice useless. 

By the time he overcame the self-diagnosed quarter-life crisis and traded in the postie van for a light blue Toyota Camry he named 'Bluey', Liberatore had proven he could still perform at the highest level. But it wasn't until the pandemic that the son of a gun re-emerged as one of the premier inside midfielders in the AFL. And the chaos of COVID wasn't the only thing that changed him; just months before the coronavirus hit these shores, Liberatore's son Oscar was born.

Since then, the 30-year-old has finished third, third and second in the Charles Sutton Medal. If the club didn't make the decision a few years ago to award best and fairest votes in practice matches, he would be a two-time winner. Josh Dunkley just pipped him last year after polling the most votes in a practice match that Liberatore missed due to COVID-19. Not that individual accolades have ever driven him, but the results underline his remarkable career resurrection after his second knee reconstruction and following a period when it looked like his time might have been up at the Western Bulldogs.

Even after 13 years at the top level, Liberatore still can't understand the fuss around him. He doesn't get why people are interested in what he does away from the football field. But they are. And they have always been interested, which is what happens when your old man is a great of the club. The interest has only intensified over the years, due in part to some questionable off-field decisions from a player regarded as one of the most interesting figures in the game.

If he was given the choice, Liberatore wouldn't be drawing any attention to himself this weekend ahead of his 200th AFL game. It's just not his style. But this is a special milestone; at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, he will become just the 22nd player in Bulldogs history to the 200-game mark. Significantly for the famous Liberatore name, Tom and Tony will become the first father-son pair in the club's history to both reach the milestone.

"There was a time when I didn't think I would get to 200,” Liberatore tells AFL.com.au.

"There are heaps of reasons (for his career resurrection). Just getting my body right again was the main one. If I'm healthy and my body is fit and I'm playing, I'm always going to apply myself and try as hard as I can every game. Getting my knees right was a big one.

"It also coincided with having Oscar as well. It just worked together. You just become a bit more relaxed, and you also just don't have any energy to do anything, which is helpful to behave.

"I think I developed a more consistent routine around training and once I had that 2020 year – luck would have it that the games were shorter and that helped me get back into consistent form – it is easier to keep playing well. Once you have a year out (due to injury), it probably takes you a year and a bit to get back to that (level). I think having that 2020 year got me going again."

If that time in 2020 with his newborn son and on the road during the League's relocation to Queensland got him started, the following year took him to a new level. In 2021, he amassed the most clearances in the competition to help lead the Dogs back to a Grand Final. Last year, he finished with the fifth most in the league, runner-up in the best and fairest on a night he won three other awards – one voted by the players, one by the trainers and the community award.

Now four rounds into 2023, Liberatore keeps defying the setbacks that threatened to curtail his career not that long ago. Right now, he is leading the AFL for tackles at 8.25 per game, averaging a career-high 27 disposals and picking up 5.75 clearances a week. All-Australian selection has evaded him thus far, but this could be the year. Not that he is the blazer-wearing type. 

For someone who would be just as happy playing for his local club St Bernard's in the B-Grade ammos, and someone who has never been drawn to the limelight that comes with playing at this level, the simple lure of four premiership points every week has never waned. 

"There is nothing I enjoy more than winning and the basic nature of playing with your mates," he says.

"It is that local footy aspect of playing. There is nothing I would trade in for that. I love the locker room and that kind of stuff. It sounds cliche, but it was something I grew up with. I just enjoy winning.

"You have moments here and there (where) it's hard getting up for round 15 or things like that; it's cold, it's wet, I don't want to do the warm-up or meetings during the week. But they are all fleeting. The concrete side of playing will always be there."

*****

"This is something I've never understood. Why does anyone care about this stuff?"

There has always been a great level of fascination about who Liberatore is away from football. The party boy image fuelled the intrigue early in his career; his bizarre appearance for the Vietnam Swans in the 2016 AFL Asia Championships, and the even more bizarre haircut he sported as he kicked a goal on the run, is a case in point.

Some of the stories are legendary – like forgetting his boots on Grand Final day and sending two of his best mates on a mad dash back to Brunswick to pick them up and return them to the MCG before the first bounce – but they only tell a fraction of his story. With Liberatore, perception simply isn't the reality.

Liberatore has invested in two pubs in the western suburbs – Mona Castle in Seddon and the Ascot Vale Hotel – with current and former teammates, including Caleb Daniel, Lin Jong, Jack Redpath, Lukas Webb and one of his best mates, but life after footy won’t involve handing out parmas or pouring pints. 

When his time is up in the AFL – he just signed a one-year extension for 2024 – the plan is to become a social worker. Liberatore has tried a couple of different things since getting an ATAR score in the mid-90s. He started an arts course and explored creative writing at RMIT, but has since found his thing. Getting to and from St Kevin's College from Essendon exposed him to a different world in the CBD and it left a mark on him. 

"I am immediately drawn to it (and) it is something I'm passionate about. I think this is life after footy," he says.

"Dad pretty much came from nothing. I feel like I've lived a pretty privileged life, so I think it is important for someone in my position to do that. It interests me a fair bit.

"(I) remember what it was like going through the city as kids and Melbourne is pretty bad with homelessness. I feel like I've got some responsibility to give back. Living in Footscray now, I am aware of that. It is something that struck a chord with me growing up and something I want to do after footy."

Liberatore has almost finished an online social work course, and much to the delight of many inside the club's headquarters, which are currently undergoing a dramatic facelift, the beloved figure is heavily involved in the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation.

*****

The memories are hazy, but Tom still recalls coming to Whitten Oval when Tony was playing. The facility was different, rundown and rusting, but it has always been about the people. Team doctor Jake Landsberger was at the club during Tony's time and for most of Tom's career. Mark Kimpton is the facility manager and has done a million different roles across decades at the kennel, earning him the name 'Mr Fix-It'. Football department stalwart Archie Salek has seen two generations of Liberatores wear the red, white and blue. Tom remembers Tony playing, but it's the personal connections he treasures the most.

To play 200 games for the club his dad did means more to Liberatore than he realised when he was younger. He might not get to Tony's mark of 283 games – only seven have played more in the club's history – but he will also go down as a club great, someone who has always done things his own way.

"It gives me shivers thinking about it. I probably wouldn't have said that five years ago because I thought I was too cool," he says, with Tony by his side.

"It is good to understand that and … to get my head around it. Even doing an interview with Dad is pretty cool."

Tony has agreed to come back to his old workplace for a couple of hours to talk about his son. They banter back and forth inside the makeshift gym amid the $77 million renovation of the Whitten Oval. Tony reckons he beat Tom the last time they played tennis. Tom disputes that.

There is still plenty of red, white and blue blood surging through Tony's veins. He loves watching Tom play and is heading across to Adelaide this weekend, ready for the feedback that will be directed his way from Port Adelaide's famously hostile fan base.

While Tony never won the ultimate prize, the 163cm rover won the 1990 Brownlow Medal, the 1991 Sutton Medal and was named in the Western Bulldogs' team of the century. His resume stacks up. He even features in the latest edition of Western Bulldogs Monopoly (yes, that's a real thing) but Tom doesn't. Something Tony enjoys pointing out before leaving our interview with a smile on his face.

"Skill wise, he is that far ahead of me it's not even funny," Tony says.

"The eras are different, completely different. I was strong in a particular area, but I was more of a battler. I think Tom is unfairly rated a bit the same because he is a ball accumulator and wins the ball. But his vision is incredible; he takes risks because he has such good vision. That peripheral vision is much better than what I had. His kicking is quite elite, too.

"It is funny (because) we've followed so many similarities. He's done two knees, I've done two knees. I won one B-and-F, he's won one B-and-F. He has been second two or three times, I was second two or three times. He's been third two or three times, so was I.

"It is quite unique how it has all unfolded. It has been so great sit back and watch him do it. I love watching him and Oliver, my other son, play every week."

Aside from coaching Tom when he was in the under 9s at St Bernard's, alongside former teammate and Footscray great Steve Wallis, whose eldest son Mitch rose through the ranks alongside Tom and played 162 games for the Bulldogs, Tony has allowed his son to find his own way.

Footy is rarely a topic of discussion, unless they are eating dinner at Nonna's place in West Brunswick. But even then, it is not central. Tom often doesn't even know the result of a Thursday night game until he turns up at the club the next day.

'Nonna' is Maria Liberatore, who is 92 years old and still cooks a weekly Italian meal that brings the family together, and still watches her grandson play football. With four generations at the one table, the focus is inevitably on the youngest. Somehow, Oscar always knows to save himself for the onslaught of food from his great-grandmother.

"It is either lasagne or tagliatelle or some type of Bolognese," Tony says. "She still makes homemade pasta, and it is just to die for. Oscar comes along and he just scoffs it. Most kids you have to tell them to eat up – not Oscar."

*****

The father-son rule is one for the romantics, for those who can't bear the thought of a famous lineage doing anything but wearing the same colours as their old man. Since it was introduced in 1949, only 11 players have played 200 games for the club their dad played for. Tom will become No.12 on Saturday night. He won't get to Dustin Fletcher's record of 400 appearances, but not many will.

The Bulldogs have enjoyed plenty of recent success via the father-son rule, and while Lachie Hunter, Zaine Cordy and Mitch Wallis all departed last year, Rhylee West (son of Scott) and Sam Darcy (son of Luke) are still at the Whitten Oval.

Maybe one day, young Oscar will follow in the famous footsteps of his dad and grandpa. Because despite spending a career shying away from the limelight, through two knee reconstructions either side of a premiership, his postie van phase and out the other side, Tom knows that the Liberatore name is Bulldog through and through.