Staying around is even tougher.
Then, there is having a genuine impact.
Less than 20 per cent of all players who make the AFL get to 100 games.
Of those who have made it, Echuca's adopted son Sam Reid might have the most incredible story of all.
From his debut in round 22, 2008 for the Western Bulldogs, Reid will have waited 4671 days to reach the milestone — the longest in 93 years.
But he's not concerned about the time it took, he's just happy to be there.
“I've been trying not to think about it too much. We've got a main session to go and I've got to get through that,” Reid told AFL media in a press conference on Tuesday.
“The way my career has gone, the ups and downs over 14 years, I'm really happy that I've got there for my family and just myself for the perseverance and everything that I've shown to get to 100 games.
“It's a pretty big milestone. Obviously it has taken me ages but I'm pumped to get there.”
Reid was drafted to the Western Bulldogs in 2007, playing 10 games in red, white and blue.
In 2010, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, now requiring daily insulin and blood tests.
In 2011, Reid joined the Giants as an out-of-contract player for the new club.
In the next two years he would play just 13 games, and was delisted at the end of the 2013 season, but remained in orange as a development coach.
Then, before the 2016 season, the most unexpected of lifelines came as the club redrafted him.
Since then, he has been delisted and re-drafted twice, played 47 of 50 games between 2018 and 2019, been a part of the Giants’ first grand final side, played through a pandemic and suffered through a series of injuries.
But all the while, he's remained in the system, and on Sunday when he travels to Tasmania with the Giants to take on North Melbourne, he will play game 100.
“[The milestone has] made me think about what my journey has been like, the resilience I've shown to have two years out of the game, come back, the injuries I've overcome, played with type 1 diabetes — I'm pretty proud of myself, to be honest,” Reid said.
“I get satisfaction out of proving people wrong and Leon [Cameron] wouldn't mind me saying that I really wanted to prove him wrong. He was the one that came to me and said I might have limited opportunities.
“But when I came back, I wanted to give it a fair crack and six years later I'm still going around.”
MORE LOCAL SPORT
Murray League to return in New South Wales
Mature Mathoura hold on for big scalp over Katamatite
Mathoura upset ladder-leaders Katamatite in statement win
18°C