There is no-one more Collingwood on the club's current list than Jordan De Goey, set to play his 200th game against Adelaide on Thursday night.
Brash, divisive, full of ink, and with several sanctions to his name, he is the cliched Collingwood bad boy, and on the field he thrives as a match-winner in front of packed out stadiums.
He's never been far from the headlines and they have rarely been kind. In 2022, he blasted the media for what he felt was targeted persecution after footage surfaced of him in Bali during the mid-season bye which forced the club to make a statement and hand him a sanction.
Some of the intense scrutiny, though, has been brought about by his own actions, such as that above, others by lofty comparisons virtually since he walked in the door as a top five pick in the 2014 AFL Draft, plus the tax of playing for the biggest club in the land.
He arrived just as Collingwood's infamous trouble-making rat pack which formed the nucleus of the 2010 premiership was disbanding, and carried the proverbial torch forward.
Across his 12-year career De Goey has played a key role in Collingwood's 2023 premiership, delivered Magpies fans unforgettable moments and been caught up in a series of off-field indiscretions.
Sharing the field with arguably Collingwood's two greatest players of all time, Scott Pendlebury and Nick Daicos, De Goey's legacy is polarising.
Ask 10 Collingwood fans what De Goey's legacy is and you'll get responses from across the spectrum.
Ultimately there are two layers that those assessing his career must work through.
Were the expectations put on him as the AFL's heir apparent to Dustin Martin's throne early in his career fair?
And how much do his off-field indiscretions taint the way he is remembered?
Assessing his career on its own merit without the spectre of ‘Dusty' or pressures of being a top-five pick, it's hard to argue that it has been a success.
He delivered the Magpies a premiership in 2023.
Everyone remembers that play deep in the last quarter of the grand final where he goaled from 50 to give Collingwood the lead for the last time.
His spectacular goal after the quarter time siren from long range is another chapter of grand final folklore.
Memorable as those moments were, his previous game against GWS Giants was probably the highlight of his career.
He had 34 disposals and 13 clearances to lift Collingwood to a tense, low-scoring one-point win over GWS. He was infamously stuck on the bench for the dying minutes of that game as the Magpies expertly caused repeat stoppages on the other side of the ground to protect their lead and manage the clock.
That fortnight was peak De Goey.
When the stage is biggest and the stakes are highest, De Goey is at his best.
He also kicked two iconic goals in the 2018 grand final and was one of the Magpies best.
Almost a third of games in the Craig McRae regime have been decided by single-digit margins and De Goey has been central to many comebacks with a stoppage goal or finishing from the arc.
A feature of that premiership side was the differing journeys many of those players took as Collingwood's hit-and-miss drafting has forced them to use their status as a big club to attract players.
That itself highlights the importance of De Goey. Excluding those Collingwood had priority access to, the club has drafted just three players who have gone on to play 100 games for the club - De Goey, Brayden Maynard and Beau McCreery.
De Goey's career stats don't jump off the page, averaging 18 disposals and just over a goal per game but he is the classic high-impact modern-day player.
He also typifies the mantra that it does not need to be your game to be your moment.
Collingwood pulled off one of the biggest finals upsets of the decade in 2020, beating West Coast, which just missed the top four, after being forced to quarantine and infamously labelled the dirty Pies out west.
De Goey had just nine touches but kicked an impossible goal tucked up against the boundary line late in the last quarter as the Eagles pressed hard. There's plenty more home and away games where he has had similar moments.
He's almost always answered the call when his club has been in greatest need, saving any inconsistency for when he's off Hollywood Boulevard.
As well as shining under McRae on-field where his exploits have shone in tight finishes, he also appears to have thrived under McRae as a person.
The aforementioned Bali incident was the last time he has been caught up in off-field drama and seemed to be a fork in the road.
He subsequently worked with Collingwood sports psychologist Jacqui Louder and was diagnosed with ADHD, which he has spoken openly about and it was the only time he stepped out of line under McRae.
Few coaches go to the effort McRae does publicly to humanise players and he has spoken on a host of different forums in recent times about the growth of De Goey.
Now 30, De Goey became a Dad at the end of last year and has settled down, thriving with the trust he has been given by his coach which has unlocked his best footy.
"Five years in the building coaching him, just seeing him grow as a man and this is probably the best patch of form I've seen him play in the last five years," McRae said this week.
"He's (going) to new levels of GPS high-speed running. It's great reward and a great sign of resilience that he's played 200 games and everyone has their own story."
Consistency has often been a question mark for De Goey, who has never won a best and fairest or been named All Australian - which his detractors point to as evidence of an underwhelming career.
Of course, there have also been some crossroads moments as De Goey as explored a move away from the club, most notably in 2022 when he met with St Kilda several times before ultimately signing a five-year deal with Collingwood which has tied him to the club until the end of next year.
His loyalty was rewarded with a premiership.
Then at the end of last year there was a prevailing belief that he could be prised out for the right price, he again stuck with Collingwood.
Sticking to his contract has been rewarded with a career-best year in 2026 as he sits behind only raging Brownlow Medal favourite Nick Daicos for coaches votes at the Pies, averaging 21 disposals and a goal per game this year.
Now, the interest lies in how far he can go, with De Goey having expressed a desire to go for as many as five more seasons which would take him through to his mid-30s.
Careers are a year-to-year proposition, generally, once a player is on the wrong side of 30, but Collingwood will need to balance his chequered injury past and volatile form with the acknowledgment that he is as mature and game-breaking as ever when working through his next contract.
Something surely unanimous about his legacy is that when De Goey is on, he's one of the most entertaining players in the league - and that's a feather any Magpie would be proud to adorn.
The build up to the milestone has been rather low-key for a player magnetised to headlines.
It's symbolic of his growth as, nowadays, he's happy for his footy to do the talking.
And it is talking louder than it ever has.
