THE PATHS of defender Ryan Hargrave and assistant coach and former Bulldog Leon Cameron were intertwined before the pair had even met.

In the 1999 trade week, the Bulldogs swapped Cameron – their 172-game midfielder – to Richmond for pick No.66 in the upcoming National AFL Draft.

The Dogs then used that fifth-round selection to secure the services of Western Australian  Hargrave, who came to the Kennel along with Robert Murphy, Daniel Giansiracusa, Patrick Wiggins, Mitch Hahn, Lindsay Gilbee and Patrick Bowden that November.

"I was made aware of the trade bit afterwards, and then Leon came back here as a coach so we did pretty well out of it in the end," Hargrave said, on the eve of his 150th game.

"I was a bit nervous approaching him the first couple of times because I didn't know if he held a grudge against me.

"But he's been fantastic for the club and he's helped me out as well. He was the backline coach for a little while there and it was really good."

Of that class of 1999, Giansiracusa has played the most games – 160 – with Murphy (155), Gilbee (150) and Hahn (147) all close behind.

Hargrave said it was humbling to reach 150, although was given a lesson in perspective this week from flamboyant teammate Jason Akermanis, who recently played his 300th.

"He came up to me today and said, 'Congratulations, but remember, for every game you've played, I've played two," he laughed.

"I don't know if I'll ever do that, play 300 games. It's an awesome effort.”

Hargrave hasn't had many injuries throughout his career. Until round eight this year, he had missed just four games since the start of 2005.

"I've been fairly lucky. It's probably due to the good work of the fitness staff at the club," he said.

"It was just unlucky that a couple of weeks before my 150th, I got injured, because my family had all booked their flights from Perth.

"They all ended up sitting in the stands, watching with me.

A mix-up meant Hargraves’ mother booked flights to watch the Bulldogs play the Swans in Canberra last week – a match he was not originally meant to play.

"I had a couple of scans done the week before and they showed I had a bit going on in the quad and I was likely to miss two or three weeks," he said.

"It felt really good and I was running and kicking and doing all the things shouldn't have been doing, and I had a word to them, had it checked again, and it was all fine. They let me play, which was awesome."

Now, the player Rodney Eade described on Tuesday as one of the most underrated in the competition is simply looking forward to finally registering his milestone and escaping the spotlight.

However, he does believe Friday's night against the embattled Tigers will create a terrific stage to celebrate on.

"I think it's a great time to play it. It's Friday night and everyone will be watching," he said.

"It's making me reflect a bit and it makes me feel really old, but it makes me appreciate what I've done as well.

"I've been at the club now for nine years and it's a bit of reward for the hard work you put in."