One of the Ararat Eagles' most loyal servants celebrated a major milestone during last weekend's match against SM&W Rovers.
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Nick Bulger notched up 100 senior games with the club and while his team was unable to take the win, the 21-year-old continued his impressive midseason purple patch with another stellar game.
Ararat Eagles' coach Nathan Wemyss said it was great to see Bulger stay loyal to the club after rising through the junior ranks to reach the milestone.
"He is still only young and he has played 100 senior games, so he has been around the club for a long time," he said
"It has got to be six or seven years that he has been playing seniors, basically since he was about 15 he has been in there."
Bulger has played eight of 11 senior matches this season and worked hard to secure his position in the team.
Wemyss said the talented tall has looked right at home in the ruck in recent weeks, which has seen him named in the Eagles' top six performers in the past three rounds.
"We have settled on the ruck for him and he is one that has really stepped up for us, especially over the last five or six weeks," he said.
"We put the pressure on him in the ruck basically as our sole ruckman and he has really performed and is showing his class in the midfield."
Wemyss said Bulger was part of a group of leaders at the club that the young players look up to and that his willingness to work hard for the team was a quality to be celebrated.
"I have just watched his confidence and attitude change as he has developed," he said.
"He was a joint-captain last year as well, and I think he has really taken on that leadership role even more in the last month or two.
"Nick is really owning his spot and has really started to feel like he is competing well against the bigger bodied ruckmen in the competition."