With Pat Lipinksi last Friday becoming the 1000th Bulldogs player since the club joined the VFL in 1925 it's interesting to look back and see how the Dogs' other 'milestone men' have fared career-wise over the last 93 seasons.

The milestone list (the club's 100th, 200th, 300th etc player) includes an interesting range of Bulldogs, from one whose first game was also his last, to a premiership player and also a Brownlow Medallist. 

BULLDOG 100 - GIL PATRICK (1929, 3 GAMES, 1 GOAL)

The 99th, 100th and 101st Bulldogs to take the field all made their debuts on the same day in round 3, 1929. Any of them could lay legitimate claim to being the Dogs' 100th VFL player but alphabetical convention dictates that Gil Patrick gets the nod as the milestone player on most 'official' lists, ahead of Bill Downie and Jack Robertson.

While the Dogs won on the day Patrick debuted, he did not retain his place. In fact  Patrick went on to make only two more senior appearances in the red, white and blue, in rounds 7 and 17 of that year. While his career at the Bulldogs didn't kick on, Patrick did at least kick his one and only VFL goal against Hawthorn in his final match.

Of the other two debutants that day, Bill Downie went on to play 54 games over four years at Footscray before having a season at St Kilda, while Jack Robertson played 12 games in his one senior season at Whitten Oval.

BULLDOG 200 - ROB SAINSBURY (1935-1941, 43 GAMES, 3 GOALS)

Recruited locally from Parkside, Rob Sainsbury came to Footscray as a forward but played the majority of his matches at the Bulldogs on the wing. Sainsbury was a serviceable player over 43 matches in seven seasons with the Dogs, without ever quite establishing a regular place in the senior side.

BULLDOG 300 - PAT HAND (1943-1949, 63 GAMES, 2 GOALS)

Another serviceable player for the Bulldogs over seven seasons, Pat Hand was a defender recruited from Sunshine. His second season at Whitten Oval saw him play all 19 games, including the losing First Semi Final agains Essendon, where he was named on a half-back flank. 

Hand's debut match was also the first game for 27-year-old Harry Gingell, a ruck-rover who played six games for the Bulldogs in that season, and all 20 for the club in 1945, to finish with a total of 26.

BULLDOG 400 - HARVEY STEVENS (1953-1957, 72 GAMES, 71 GOALS)

Although his father Arthur had captained Footscray in 1929, Harvey Stevens' VFL career began at Collingwood. Stevens played in an unfamiliar role as full forward in the 1952 Grand Final and failed to kick a goal as the Magpies suffered a hefty loss to Geelong. Collingwood unceremoniously dumped Stevens after that defeat, and the Magpies' loss was to be the Bulldogs' gain.

Stevens joined Footscray the following season and gave great service to the Dogs over the next five seasons, and played a vital role as a ruckman in the 1954 premiership season. He was widely regarded as Footscray's best player in the second semi final win over Geelong, and had 19 kicks and took four marks in the Dogs' Grand Final win over Melbourne, also kicking a goal in the victory.

BULLDOG 500 - KEVIN MEDDINGS (1962, 1 GAME 0 GOALS)

Not every player who makes his debut can go on to have a long career, and Kevin Meddings is one of more than a thousand players to have played just one V/AFL match. Despite not necessarily making a name for himself at Whitten Oval, Meddings enjoyed great success in 95 games at VFA club Yarraville, topping the club goal-kicking list in 1960 and 1961, and playing in a VFA representative side in 1961, 1963 and 1966. He played his one and only game for the Dogs in 1962.

BULLDOG 600 - COLIN DELL (1971-1977, 66 GAMES, 10 GOALS)

Coming from Yallourn in Footscray's fertile La Trobe Valley recruiting zone, Colin Dell was a solid half-back flanker for the Bulldogs over seven seasons from 1971 to 1977. Dell was named in the Dogs' best players in the 1974 Elimination Final loss to Collingwood. He later played VFA football for Brunswick and Williamstown. 

Another La Trobe Valley player, John Keast, also made his Footscray debut on the same day as Dell. The ruckman played eight games for the Dogs from 1971 to 1973.

BULLDOG 700 - TERRY DE KONING (1980-1982, 31 GAMES, 2 GOALS)

Recruited from Doveton, Terry De Koning's three seasons at Footscray unfortunately coincided with one of the club's least successful eras. The Bulldogs finished in the bottom three in each of those three years, during which time the ruckman/back pocket played 31 games. De Koning's time in the VFL at least finished on somewhat of a high as he kicked the only two goals of career in his last match in the final round of the 1982 season. 

Brian Perrin, who debuted for the Bulldogs on the same day is De Koning, played 34 games for the club over four seasons.

BULLDOG 800 - SCOTT WYND (1988-2000, 237 GAMES, 31 GOALS)

Undoubtedly one of the favourite Sons of the West, Scott Wynd played his first game for Footscray in 1988 alongside another 'SW' debutant, Stuart Wigney. (In fact the Bulldogs' team of that day contained four SWs, Steve Wallis and Shane Williams also in the side). 

Wynd played only a minor role for the Dogs in what was his only match of the year but he became the club's number one ruckman from round one the following year. Wynd went on to carve out a magnificent career as a follower, reaching a peak in 1992 when he won the game's most coveted award, the Brownlow Medal. 

Combining his deft ruck work with taking countless saving marks in defence, Wynd played a vital role in taking the Western Bulldogs from easybeats to AFL force, the club making finals in four consecutive seasons for the first time in history from 1997 to 2000. Wynd retired after a magnificent 237-game career at the end of the 2000 season. 

Wigney played 47 games for the Bulldogs before later playing at Sydney, Adelaide and Richmond.

BULLDOG 900 - SAM POWER (2002-2007, 84 GAMES, 16 GOALS)

Sam Power's career was unfortunately always likely to suffer by comparison with that of his brother, the Brisbane Lions' champion Luke. Nevertheless, Sam eked out an 84-game career at Whitten Oval and was in important contributor to the side in many of those matches. Power later spent two seasons at North Melbourne, taking his AFL games tally to 123.