Lachlan Keeffe and Josh Thomas were teammates at Collingwood for six seasons and became close friends during that time. Now, as Thomas prepares to play his 50^th game, eight and a half years after he was drafted, Keeffe reflects on his great mate’s long and winding footballing journey.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my teammates at Greater Western Sydney, Sam Reid, celebrated his long-awaited 50-game milestone.

His 50^th AFL appearance, which was against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, came nine years and 247 days after his debut for the Western Bulldogs against Adelaide in 2008.

That placed him third on the list of longest journeys to play 50 games in VFL/AFL history.

On Saturday night, when Collingwood plays St Kilda, I’ll be watching on TV with interest as a great mate of mine with a similar story reaches the same milestone.

Remarkably, Josh Thomas’s 50^th game will come 3,096 days after he was selected by Collingwood in the 2009 national draft.

Josh Thomas in his Queensland jumper prior to the 2009 under-18 championships (AFL Photos)

I think Josh would be a little bit embarrassed that it’s taken him this long to play 50 games, but anyone who plays 50 games at AFL-level should be very proud of their achievement.

I’m sure he’d rather be hitting the hundred-mark rather than 50, but I think he’s got to be rapt to have lived out his childhood dream and not only play one AFL game but reach 50.

I joined the Pies a bit before Josh. I remember when he arrived and the head of recruiting, Derek Hine, introduced me to him because we were both Queenslanders.

My first reaction was that his haircut, his fringe in particular, was quite out of control.

I wasn’t sure if he – and Jamie Elliott for that matter – wanted to be footy players or members of a boy band.

That fringe has slowly got smaller and smaller but he still plays with it on the field, which is quite amusing.

But back to footy.

I always thought Josh had the talent to play a lot of games at the highest level. He’s got some of the best hands I’ve seen on a football field. Most keen AFL observers would probably have noticed that.

Still, I know there were certainly times when he thought he would never get to 50 games.

He had so many setbacks early on due to foot injuries, then there was the devastation of our two-year ban for breaching the AFL’s drug code.

We had some pretty candid conversations after we were banned and during those months back home in Queensland when we trained together with a personal trained.

At that stage, I thought there was no chance that we would be back in the AFL system.

I don’t profess to say that what Josh and I went through was the hardest thing in the world, but it was obviously a major road-block.

Luckily for us, Collingwood was so good by allowing us the chance to come back and try to repay the faith the Pies had shown in us.

Josh Thomas and Lachlan Keeffe smile as the AFL website confirms they have been redrafted by Collingwood in the 2015 rookie draft

Once it looked like we were going to get another chance, I saw Josh put his head down and work really hard to get back into a mindset to get back into the AFL.

To find the want and drive to come back and play so well after two years out of the game is pretty impressive in my eyes. It’s a credit to him.

I haven’t been able to reach anywhere near the standard that he has since we came back to footy, which goes to show how impressive a player he is.

I’m rapt to see how Josh has bounced back and been able to play the standard of footy that I always knew he was capable of.

He showed glimpses in the 40 or so games he played before this year, but I think this is probably his best run of footy so far.

Most in the inner-sanctum at Collingwood know he’s got the talent and now he’s putting it on the park, which is good to see.

It’s great that people can now just talk about what a great player he is rather than dwelling on the fact he was banned for breaching the drug code.

After all he’s been through, he’s second in the goalkicking at Collingwood this season. It’s a credit to him.

I think Josh should be proud of himself. He has proven himself to be such a resilient character.

If he can keep his form going, there’s no doubt he’ll be celebrating plenty more milestones in the future.

I look forward to him getting another 50 games under his belt and being able to raise his bat when he reaches his century.

Josh Thomas celebrates kicking a goal against Greater Western Sydney in round two (AFL Photos)