Umpiring the Abletts has reminded Stephen McBurney of how lucky he is – and the need to stay out of the way.

McBurney will become only the third AFL field umpire to reach 400 games in Saturday’s Richmond v Carlton match at the MCG.

The 45-year-old also told his fellow umpires on Monday night that he will retire at the end of the season.

McBurney made his AFL debut in round one, 1995 – when Gary Ablett Snr was nearing the end of his amazing career.

The ongoing brilliance of Ablett Jnr has prompted debate about who is better – father or son?

McBurney said he could not separate them.

“You’d almost stop umpiring and … be in awe of him,” he said of Ablett Snr.

“You’d almost have to take a breath and remind yourself ‘I have to get back to umpiring, I can’t just spectate and watch his skills’.

“Gary Ablett Jnr is the same – you see some of the goals he kicks from ridiculous angles and how he finds space when there’s no space there to find.

“It’s just fantastic for us as umpires to have the best seat in the house and see it up close.”

Ablett Snr could also frighten a young umpire.

“I was really, genuinely scared of him,” McBurney said.

“When he came charging out on a lead, I thought ‘if I get stuck in his way …’, like some of the players did falling back into the gap, they’d just be poleaxed.”

McBurney will end his AFL career third on the all-time list behind Hayden Kennedy (495) and Rowan Sawers (410).

The crime examiner and married father of two said work and family heavily influenced his decision to retire at the end of the season.

A quick look around his fellow umpires also rammed home to McBurney that he is the wrong side of 40.

“We have a young umpire on the list, Brendan Hosking, and when I turned up for my first training night at the AFL he wasn’t born,” he said.

“So that’s an indication that maybe I am getting a bit old for this.”

McBurney umpired four grand finals, most recently in 2009, and twice earnt All-Australian honours.

He will continue to mentor young umpires and can see a day when the AFL will have a female field umpire.

“We’ve seen some really good female athletes think this is an option for them,” he said.