It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Gold Coast SUNS utility Luke Russell.

One of the club’s original 17-year-old interstate priority selections in 2008, he’s had to fight for everything and has had his share of frustrating moments through more than five years on the tourist strip.

He has been used by coach Guy McKenna as the substitute a club record 11 times. Next most is Jack Hutchins and Josh Toy, each with six.

He’s been an emergency selection eight times. Only Liam Patrick (10), Jackson Allen (9), Kyal Horsley (9), Timmy Sumner (9), Jeremy Taylor (9) and Maverick Weller (9) have been asked to go thorugh that ‘almost, but not quite’ feeling more often.

And with Charlie Dixon he is the only senior listed player to have played in the reserves in each of their four years in the AFL. He had 10 games in 2011 and one each in 2012-13 before starting 2014 at the secondary level. 

But on Sunday, when the GC SUNS host the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium, Russell will add another more appealing statistic to his resume with his 50^th AFL game in what is a credit to his resilience and persistence.

The 22-year-old forward/midfielder from Burnie in Tasmania will become the 12^th SUNS player to a half- century, joining Gary Ablett (69 games), Trent McKenzie (65), Jarrod Harbrow (64), Danny Stanley (61), Matt Shaw (60), David Swallow (59), Dion Prestia (59), the retired Jared Brennan (54), Michael Rischitelli (54), Harley Bennell (53) and Sam Day (50) in the 50-Game Club.

Russell, coming off an impressive 21-possession performance against St Kilda at his last outing, is the SUNS’ third 50-gamer this season behind Rischitelli and Day. But he won’t be anything like the last.

Foundation signings Tom Lynch (46 games), Brand Matera (46), Zac Smith (45), Karmichael Hunt (43), Steven May (42), Rory Thompson (39) and Dixon (39) and third-year forward Aaron Hall (38) are also within striking distance of 50 this year.

Russell has been part of an excellent return from the massive challenge presented to the SUNS via the recruiting concession which gave them priority access to a dozen 17-year-olds, 12 months before they would normally have been drafted. 

Alex Keath, who eventually chose cricket over football, never joined the SUNS, and Piers Flanagan (3 games), Taylor Hine (9 games), Hayden Jolly (6 games) and Josh Toy (10 games) were either de-listed or, in Hine’s case, de-listed himself without making a lasting impact.

Maverick Weller, a life-long close friend of Russell who moved north with him from Burnie, played 32 SUNS games before being delisted at the end of last year and then re-drafted by St Kilda.

But the other six foundation picks are still there as part of the club’s emerging and exciting list.  McKenzie, Shaw and Matera have been senior regulars when available, and Jack Hutchins (19 games) and Tom Nicholls (15 games) have been limited at times by injury. 

Russell is a bit the one in the middle. He’s played fewer reserves games than Nicholls (33) and Hutchins (31), but more than McKenzie (7), Shaw (5) and Matera (4), and has carried a heftier load from the selectors via green vests and emergency selections.

But his 50th game will be a personally satisfying moment as the SUNS, sitting a club record fifth on the AFL ladder with a 6-2 win/loss record, look to further consolidate their position in the top eight against the 12th-placed Bulldogs.

On a club record four-game winning streak, the SUNS have come a long way since their last meeting with the Bulldogs in round 8 last year, when, after losing their first three games against them, beat them by 32 points at Metricon Stadium to complete back-to-back wins for the first time in club history.

It was a day ruckman Smith will not forget in a hurry. He badly injured his knee and spent almost exactly 12 months on the sideline before a magnificent comeback last week, when he had 10 possessions and posted a career-best 29 hit-outs without even a warm-up game in the reserves.

Despite his prolonged absence, Smith will preserve his record on Sunday of having played in each of the SUNS’ games against the Dogs. Likewise, Ablett, Prestia and Stanley.

Not surprisingly, Ablett has been the SUNS’ most prolific ball-winner in matches against the Dogs, averaging 29.5 possessions, and he’s posted the only two 30-possession games against them.

Lynch, with four goals in three games against the Bulldogs, is the SUNS’ leading goal-kicker against then.

Having kicked three goals against them at Metricon in round 14 2011 he also shares the biggest single-game haul against the Dogs with the now retired Campbell Brown, who kicked three goals against them last year.

Ablett has polled five Brownlow Medal votes for the SUNS against the BulldDogs to top the club’s list from Jaeger O’Meara (2), Brown (1) and Shaw (1).