Melbourne United's club games record-holder Chris Goulding is set to become the magical 100th NBL player to reach the 300-game mark.
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The 31-year-old, who was raised in Launceston before relocating to Brisbane, will reach the milestone against the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday in Melbourne.
"I don't think I ever foresaw that I'd get to 300 games - it's kind of crept up," he told Melbourne United media.
Goulding will also be the third Tasmanian-born player to pass 300 games in 40 years.
Burnie favourite Anthony Stewart retired in 2008 with 489 games across four clubs that began at the Hobart Tassie Devils 16 years earlier.
Adam Gibson was the first from Launceston, the South East Melbourne Phoenix top signing sitting on 424 games.
That mantle in the upper echelon sits comfortable as a growing stalwart of the game.
"Throughout the last couple of years of my career as the United captain, I have to worry about everyone except me," Goulding said.
"Just understanding being a professional I have to set the standard that way when there is young guys there just like when I was young to make sure everyone is in the right mindset to go out there and perform their best."
Goulding's storied NBL journey started with the Brisbane Bullets in 2007 before their collapse forced a switch west to Perth Wildcats.
The Australian Boomers star returned to Queensland to sign with the Gold Coast Blaze until their 2012 demise saw Goulding land at the Melbourne Tigers.
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The club owners rebranded the team United just after Goulding left for two seasons in Europe when he returned to a highly-decorated career.
"I left Melbourne when they were the Tigers and I came back a year into this United journey," he said.
"Sitting here now it's been an amazing transition everyone has gone through and it's something I am proud of."
The guard, who has scored 4071 points and averaged 13.4 points over his 14 seasons, has racked up 127 games for United after 57 in Melbourne as a Tiger.
Goulding is United's all-time leading scorer and the only player to score 50 points in a single appearance since the NBL in 2010 changed the game duration to 40 minutes.
The man whose signature game is his draining triples has shot an NBL record of 677 three-pointers.
"There definitely has been a couple points earlier in my career, perhaps when I played for Gold Coast, that I thought maybe I do belong in this league and can make a career out of it," he said.
"There's never a goal to make it to 300, but I'm pretty happy that it's come around."
He proved the cornerstone of United's breakthrough 2017-18 championship win.
The grand final MVP of the five-game series won 3-2 still loves basking in that glory as the ultimate achievement.
"I had dreams of running around like a headless chook after winning a championship," Goulding said.
"The excitement of just being there with my teammates and my family was one of the coolest moments I've definitely had on a basketball court."
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