TSL: Launceston's Jay Blackberry equals Jaye Bowden's games record

Debuting when the State League resumed in 2009, the 29-year-old was at South Launceston until 2013 and had a two-year stint with Western Storm before joining the Blues in 2016.

Set to play alongside Blackberry against the Demons, Launceston coach Mitch Thorp labelled the mid-forward "a class act", having not missed a training session this season.

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"The competition started in 2009, Jay was a very young man at that point and the gap between his best and worst is very thin, he's been one of the most coachable players I've had the luxury of coaching," Thorp said.

"We've been involved in a couple of premierships and played together for seven years, so I've been very fortunate to see Jay at his best and arguably, he's in career-best form at the moment.

"He's only 29, so who knows how many games he can play but 212 this week is a great effort and I'm sure the boys will want to put in a good performance."

Aside from an ACL injury requiring reconstruction in 2018, Blackberry, has stayed injury free throughout his storied career, with Thorp not putting a limit on how much football he could play.

"He's certainly indicated that he just wants to keep playing for as long as his body allows," Thorp said.

"I think being a little fella ... typically you look at the AFL with Boomer [Brent] Harvey and those sort of guys that have reached the 400 mark, they can play right into their 30s, so I expect a few more games to come."

Last time the Blues played North Hobart, the Demons pushed the reigning premiers to their limits in the first half, trailing by only eight points at the main break before Launceston kicked away.

"In the second half, we really got to work and in that third quarter in particular we were able to kick 13 goals in a quarter and Dylan [Riley] kicked nine in the second half," Thorp said.

"We are certainly looking for a four-quarter performance, particularly at Windsor Park, it's a ground we play well, we love playing here and hopefully we can put ourselves in a position to have a final here, so we want to make sure make the most of our opportunities."

Playing his first game of the season last week, Thorp "ticked the boxes" and is ready to go again on home soil, with the Blues making five changes to the side that beat Kingborough.

That side had four Tasmania Devils players - Bailey Gillow, Liam Jones, Zach Morris and Jonty McIvor - who will face the Sydney Swans Academy this weekend, while development league trio Sam Foley, Jayden Hinds and Tony Aganas have also been selected.

Joe Groenewegen joins them on the sidelines with Thorp bringing in Bowen Pearce, Brayden Pitcher, Ronan Filgate, Colby McKercher and Kye Chilcott.

The Blues' already-strong side is set to be bolstered in the coming weeks, with courageous midfielder Fletcher Seymour named as an emergency and only a two-kilometre time trial away from returning, while reigning player of the season Jobi Harper will play against Glenorchy next Saturday.

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