Nelson Bay in the Hunter Region of New South Wales is better known for its whale watching than its love of Aussie Rules.

But the town of a little more than 5,000 people was the birthplace of Essendon’s latest milestone man.

Craig Bird is set to play his 150^th AFL match this Saturday against Richmond.

“I guess growing up in Nelson Bay, it’s not really an AFL town, so to play one AFL game was a big effort for me,” Bird said.

“To get to 150 I’m pretty proud of it. 

“I’ve had a few little hiccups along the way with injuries and stuff like that – it’s a good achievement and something I’ll look back on and be proud of.”

Bird played the first 137 games of his career with Sydney after being selected as a New South Wales scholarship holder in the 2007 National Draft.

He tasted the high of premiership success in 2012 and the disappointment of defeat in the Grand Final two years later.

With Essendon and St Kilda at a stalemate over the Jake Carlisle deal last October, Bird became an important piece of the puzzle.

His acquisition helped seal the trade that also landed the Bombers pick five in the draft.

Since his arrival, Bird said he’s tried to guide the young crop of Essendon players forging their way in the game.

“I’m just trying to help the young guys out and tell them what it takes to make it at AFL level,” he said. 

“We had some really good leaders here early on, but obviously a few of them aren’t playing this year. 

“But a few guys have stepped up like ‘Kel’ and Matty Stokes – they’ve been really good at helping the younger guys out and setting the standards for the team.”

Bird endured a restricted first pre-season at his new home and concedes he was a little underdone when he made his debut for the Club in round one against Gold Coast.

“I was probably a little slow to get going.  I had surgery in the off-season so I didn’t really have any pre-season,” he said.

“I probably got thrown in a little bit earlier than I would have liked because of the circumstances.”

Bird was left out of the side for the two games following his debut but returned in round four and has registered at least 19 possessions in nine of the 11 games since his call up.

The 27 year old is also ranked second at the Bombers for tackles, averaging 6.2 per game.

“I think I’ve played some ok games but like the team, we’ve had some down weeks as well… just a little bit inconsistent so hopefully we can finish off the year pretty strong,” Bird said.

The former Swan is preparing to take on Richmond this week and he said the side will go in with plenty of belief following their performance against St Kilda last Sunday. 

“We’ll go in confident – if we play like we did on the weekend we’ve got every chance of winning,” he said.

“But we’re going to have to play well and put in a four quarter performance, which is something we’ve struggled to do this year.”