He may be closing in on 200 Carlton games (nine on the trot gets him to the double ton against Essendon on the MCG), but Heath Scotland knows it ain’t about the numbers.

Etched into “Scotto’s” memory is a comment made to him by his then Senior Coach at Collingwood, one M. Malthouse, in the early days at Victoria Park.

“One of the first things I can remember Mick saying to me as a young player was: ‘Never count your games – make your games count’. That’s something that’s always stuck with me,” Scotland said.

“I’ve never liked to look too far ahead because of what he (Malthouse) said. You make your games count whether it’s one, 100 or 200. In saying that, I do know that I’ve played 244 in total which leaves me six to get to 250, but more importantly I’m nine games away from 200 at Carlton.”

The good news is that the reigning John Nicholls Medallist is ready to go again. A club-imposed two-match layoff for an off-field indiscretion meant that Scotland was reduced to mere spectator for both the Richmond and Collingwood encounters and as he admitted of watching on: “I’m a bit sick of chewing my nails”.

“It was extremely frustrating,” Scotland said after today’s training session at Visy Park. “To spend all those days, weeks and months on end preparing for Round One, only to be sitting on the sidelines for both games has been very disappointing.

“The hardest part about watching on is that you’re helpless. When you’re a player and things are either going well or not going well you can at least make an impact on the field. But when you’re on the sidelines there’s nothing you can do to help and that’s very hard.

“Hopefully this week, or if not this week whenever it is, I’ll get the chance to get back into the side and make an impact.”

Nearing his 33^rd birthday, age shall not weary the grand old man of Visy Park. Fresh from a weekend run for the Northern Blues, he’s over the ankle complaint that set him back earlier in the piece and ready to build on the club’s games record in the No.29 dark Navy Blue guernsey.

But how does a reigning club champion better his best and fairest season?

“As a player, regardless of what you’ve achieved the year before, it’s a new year,” Scotland said. “I prepare every year to improve and it’s not the case to think that at my age I’m at my peak and I’m finished.

“My birth certificate might say I’m 32, but I still feel like I’m in my mid-20s. My body feels strong, I feel fit and I’ll continue to look to improve in every aspect, whether it be speed, power, clean ball handling, decision-making or whatever – there’s a million facets of the game and I’m looking to get one per cent from everywhere.”

And what will the 200 mean to him? Again, Scotland draws on a memory, this one from ten years past.

“As a player coming across from Collingwood at 23 or 24, I remember walking down the hallway, seeing the photos of the 200-game players and thinking ‘Gee, it’d be fantastic to be able to play 200 and be up there amongst them’,” Scotland said.

“I never thought it was something within reach, but it is within reach. Hopefully it’s something I can achieve because it would be a personal honour to know I’ve played 200 games at this fantastic footy club, but more importantly to make sure that whether it’s 191 or 200 games they’ve counted.

“That’s I know, coaches know and supporters know that when I’ve run out there I’ve given everything to the footy club . . . I feel I have, I feel that I always do and hopefully I can make some games count even more than last year.”