Black reaches 250 but already has 300 in sightsSaturday, June 24, 2023 - 6:10 AM - by Chris Pike

YOU don't play 250 games in the WAFL at the level that Aaron Black has with West Perth or rack up the accomplishments he has by accident, and it's that unmatched dedication and work rate that has him thinking 300 matches with the Falcons is still well within reach.

Black will reach the 250-game milestone with West Perth this Sunday afternoon when he leads the Falcons out onto Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium against Swan Districts in yet another remarkable accomplishment in a glistening career.

Black began his career with the Falcons back in 2010 while still a 17-year-old and he's never looked back. He started out in run-with roles to learn from some of the best and has gone on to become one of the best pure ball winners the competition has seen.

Across his 249 games so far with West Perth, the accomplishments are endless with Black playing in two premierships for the Falcons and four grand finals along with representing Western Australia seven times, and even playing one AFL match with the West Coast Eagles.

Then there are the individual accomplishments and he won the 2014 Sandover Medal along with three Breckler Medals as the West Perth fairest and best along with being a Falcons life member and premiership captain.

While by no means does Black feel as though reaching the 250-game milestone signals that the end of his career is immediately on the horizon, the 30-year-old has taken the chance to reflect on the achievement that it is.

It's not something to be sneezed at. On Sunday by playing his 250th game, Black will become just the eight player in West Perth's rich and storied history to reach the mark after Mel Whinnen, Bill Dempsey, Alan Watling, Les Fong, Paul Mifka, Ray Schofield and Wally Price.

He will be just the 37th player in the entire history of the WAFL to reach 250 games as well and will be only the second current player to achieve the feat. 

Ironically the other is Swan Districts' Tony Notte who is currently on 284 games and will be out there playing against Black's West Perth on Sunday at Joondalup.

For Black, it has given him the opportunity to take pause and reflect on just what an accomplishment it is to reach 250 games this Sunday.

"I've probably thought about it more the last three weeks leading in and just hoping to get there because I had the hammy issue early on this season," Black told SEN WA.

"I was kind of hoping nothing happened in the lead up, but this week I've tried to do a bit of reflecting because you don't really like to think about it too much while you're playing. But you get messages from people who have achieved a lot, and it's pretty cool. 

"I look at it that I'm one of seven players in 130-odd at the West Perth footy club to play 250 and I think the reflection on that made me realise how big it really is. I'm really proud of what I've done but I like to think I've got a bit of footy left in me too."

While it seems like an obvious answer to the question over what your highlights are when you've won premierships, it's also true and in the case of Black the flag successes with the Falcons in 2013 and 2022 were equally memorable in vastly different ways.

The 2013 premiership almost came out of the blue with a youthful West Perth team upsetting the West Coast-partnered East Perth in the grand final to cement the legacy of captain Jason Salecic and coach Bill Monaghan.

So much has happened in between before that triumph last year where Black had won a Sandover Medal, fairest and best awards and everything else in that time, but also played in two losing grand finals and seen the club fall into financial despair only to claw their way back.

Black was very much in the early stages of his career in that 2013 premiership, but last year he was a 200-plus game co-captain and those memories standout, but they certainly aren’t the only things.

While he never technically got the chance to be on an AFL list, he did get to play a game for the West Coast Eagles in 2022 too as a top up player against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, which is something he'll forever cherish.

"There's so many standout highlights but the premierships are what you play footy for. It's so cliché but it really is what you play team sport so the journey to winning those is pretty special," Black said.

"The individual stuff that comes along the way, I guess when you retire and look back on it's pretty special. 

"Then getting to play AFL footy last year and just to experience that level of footy, and actually challenge myself and see if my game would translate was pretty special. But I don’t think anything tops the two flags and hopefully we've got a few more left in the tank."

The last player to reach 300 games in the WAFL was Kris Miller, who achieved the remarkably rare feat of playing 150 games at both East Fremantle and South Fremantle before retiring in 2014 on the back of his 303 appearances.

Black spent plenty of time opposed to Miller in those formative years of his career including being tasked with tagging him at the very start so he has some lasting memories of those battles, and is fully aware of the achievement it was from Miller to reach 300 games.

However, Black still looks back fondly on those lessons he learned at the start of his career trying to tag some of the league's best ball winners like Miller, Claremont's Luke Blackwell, Subiaco's Kyal Horsley, East Perth's Brendan Lee, Perth's Ross Young or East Fremantle's Rory O'Brien.

Those days are long gone and Black has spent more than a decade being the player getting that focus himself from opposition teams to try to limit his ball winning ability, but it's through sheer hard work, fitness and determination that it's rarely succeeded.

Black has had the career he's had purely through out working his opposition, both with the work done away from the field on his fitness, and then his remarkable and unmatched work rate during games.

You don't get to that point without loving what you are doing and that passion remains as strong as ever for Black which is exactly why he sees no reason he can't keep playing long enough to reach 300 games.

That would make him the first player to do that since Miller got to the mark in 2014, and just the seventh overall in the history of the league and just the third at West Perth behind Mel Whinnen (371) and Bill Dempsey (343).

"'Chewy' Miller taught me a few lessons back when I first started and he had a few 30-piece feeds on me so I reckon that's where I got my ball winning ability from, chasing him around and guys like him early on," Black said. 

"But I've said it a fair bit and my love of the game is as good as it's ever been. I'm at a great club in regards to the people who are there and I love training, and talking to players who retired recently and some friends I've made playing WAFL footy, the first thing that went was the love of training and wanting to be at the club for long hours during the week. 

"I still love it and am still running around like a 15-year-old kid so as long as that remains I think my will to compete is going to be there as well. I think 300 is on the cards if the body stays right and you do have to be lucky with that sort of thing."

While the accolades are wide and varied for the team success that Black has been part of with the premierships, playing state football and getting that AFL chance, and then the individual accolades with a Sandover Medal, fairest and bests and life membership, it goes beyond that.

What makes all those things actually meaningful is the personal relationships you build along the way and for Black, that begins with great mate Shane Nelson and then goes through to coaches Bill Monaghan, Geoff Valentine and Darren Harris, and beyond.

"I've been playing footy since we were 14 or 15 years old and you talk about longstanding relationships, you go through the ups and downs personally, and together and the successes you have together and individually," Black said.

"Then there's all the young guys who come through and have a massive impact on your development and helping your leadership skills, and the work I've done with Bill, Geoff and Harro in the last couple of years. 

"Harro especially has taken my leadership skills on the footy field and off it to a whole nother level. Then there's the people off-field, I've built some really good relationships with some people who work at the footy club who have had a massive impact on me. 

"It's just a privilege to be involved in sport for such a long period of time because the relationships that you build last a lifetime."

As for that long-time teammate and close friend Nelson, it's a remarkable journey the two have had together.

Not only have they shared their entire WAFL careers together including the two premierships, but have been tight friends for near on 20 years now and that's included the highs of Nelson's marriage, and the lows of going through his father passing away.

Now when Nelson reflects on his great mate reaching 250 games, he couldn’t be more proud for him.

"He's been an incredible player for the club and not only the club, but the WAFL in general as well," Nelson told 91.3 SportFM. 

"For him to reach 250 games is a huge milestone and I'm super proud to be able to share the field with him in a lot of those games. I've seen firsthand the work that he's put in and to be able to run out alongside him this week for this achievement is something I'm very honoured for."

While they are peers and have been through so much together, Nelson still finds himself marvelling at the way Black is so giving of his time to help all his teammates be better, but the continued dedication he has to his own football and the West Perth Football Club.

"He certainly sets the example at training in terms of the way he goes about his work," Nelson added.

"He's extremely fit and he rocks up in unbelievable condition in every pre-season and for a guy that's achievement what he has throughout his career, there's probably a temptation there to not do the work early on in the pre-season. 

"But he rocks up and wins just about every running session there is and just the way he's able to bring the young guys together as well both on and off the field. 

"He builds those relationships and then the way he goes about it on the field putting his body on the line each week, we're super lucky to have a captain in him to lead from the front each week."