Rollercoaster ride now sees Bairstow reach 100 games

SOUTH Fremantle has added motivation to return to the winner’s list this Saturday when Toby Bairstow’s rollercoaster WAFL journey reaches a high point as he plays his 100th match with the Bulldogs to book his name on the No. 4 locker at Fremantle Oval.

It hasn’t always been a smooth ride to 100 games for the 25-year-old since he graduated through the colts and reserves at South Fremantle after coming up from Bunbury to go and make his league debut in Round 6, 2008.

He played 16 games in the premiership year of 2009 including kicking in the winning goal in an incredible Anzac Day derby against East Fremantle and playing well in the second semi-final win over Subiaco, but he and Hayden North made way for Jeff Farmer and Peter Bell in the grand final.

Bairstow shook off the disappointment of that to continue to develop his game further in 2010 as a permanent midfielder averaging over 25 possessions a game and then backing that up in 2011 averaging over 23.

The departure of John Dimmer as coach saw Paul Hasleby take over and give Bairstow a new role on the wing in 2012 and that’s something he was doing tremendously until a hand injury saw his season end after 10 matches.

He was back as a strong contributor again for the first 17 games of 2013 before being dropped for the final three matches and then also being asked to play reserves for the opening three games of 2014.

However, he put his head down and worked hard to get back into the league side where he has remained since starring in the Round 4 win over West Perth with him returning to playing as an inside midfielder.

Bairstow is now excited to be reaching the 100-game mark with the Bulldogs himself this Saturday against Claremont at the Showground.

“It’s huge to get to 100 games. To be honest it’s a big part of why you continue to play football. To have played at Souths, to now be about to play 100 games and getting my name on the locker means a lot,” Bairstow said.

“When you are young and starting out it doesn’t mean much at all, but eventually over the years you start to understand how important it actually it is for you as a person. I’m really excited to hopefully get there now this week.

“It is something that is really special and it means a lot to me, and I’ve seen it mean a lot to other players. I remember when Ash and Kyle got his 100th game, and Whitey got his it meant a lot to them and now that it’s fast approaching for me I really do understand how much of a great achievement it is.”

Playing different roles over the years, missing the premiership (despite playing in the reserves flag) in 2009, having a season-ending injury in 2012 and now having to bounce back from being dropped all lead to the milestone meaning a lot to Bairstow now.