Rory Thompson will become the 17th Gold Coast SUNS player to celebrate his 50th game with the club on Saturday.

The defender made his debut in 2011, suffering his fair share of extended setbacks along the way.

Thompson will reach the mark against Carlton at Etihad Stadium, and said he’s looking forward to notching up his first career milestone with the club.

“Yeah I’m very excited about reaching the milestone this weekend; it’s been a bumping road to get to the first 50.

“Yeah I think I made my debut when I was 16, managed to play last eight games or so but then had surgery at the end of that season.

“So missed the start of the start of the next season, managing only five games until I did my ankle so I missed the rest of that season, and then last year managed 21 and got up to 50 now.”

The Gold Coaster joins a total of six players to celebrate 50 games this season, and couldn’t be happier to reach the mark alongside many of his inaugural VFL teammates.

“Yeah definitely – especially having a lot of those other boys reaching that mark as well. You definitely feel a lot more comfortable out there and the more games you play out there the more comfortable you feel.”

The SUNS return to Etihad stadium for the third time this season, boasting a 2-0 record at Docklands.

Thompsons insists the players will be out to back up their impressive win over St Kilda with an equally strong performance against the Navy Blues in the round 20 encounter.

“Every game for the rest of the season is going to be crucial for us, and same as this week we just have to back up and put in a good four quarter effort.

“Just backing up; had a couple of average weeks for us but managed to put in a better performance against St Kilda so we have to back it up for the rest of the season.”