Gold Coast forward Luke Douglas gives credit to his late mother as he prepares to break the NRL record for most consecutive matches.
Douglas will play his 195th straight match when the Titans kick off their season against his former club Cronulla on Monday.
It means the 27-year-old will eclipse Jason Taylor’s long-standing mark of 194 games which the halfback achieved with Wests, North Sydney and the Northern Eagles between 1992 and 2000.
Douglas doesn’t think there’s any particular reason he has stayed relatively unscathed for so long although he believes his mother Trish, who died last year after a short battle with cancer, played a significant part.
“Whenever I had a little niggle or something, she was the one looking up on the internet how to fix it,” Douglas said.
“Sourced me ice, compression machines and that sort of stuff.
“She’d be looking down pretty proud.”
Since debuting for the Sharks in 2006, Douglas has overcome being wrongly sent off in one match, niggles and the death of his beloved mother to maintain his appearance streak.
He says a work ethic instilled by his parents ensured he always leaves no stone unturned in his preparation, but luck has played a big part of his streak as well.
“Honestly I’ve been pretty lucky. Staying on top of injuries and that sort of stuff has helped,” he said.
“All NRL players play with niggles, they play with injury, I’ve just been lucky to avoid the big ones.
“Against Melbourne a few years back I did what we though was my medial (ligament) and there was only a short turnaround. I ripped into the ice, lived in the physio room and got out there all strapped up.”
A somewhat reluctant hero, Douglas says he has no goal as to how long he can continue his streak – he’s just glad to be finally reaching the milestone so it’s no longer a talking point.
“It’s a bit overwhelming at the moment,” he said.
“Definitely something I’ll look back on when I’m finished. My goal was just to play one first grade game. To play this many in a row is pretty cool.
“I’m happy with 195. The pressure will be off a bit, we can all stop talking about it and I can get on with having a good season with the Titans.”