''Boomer'' plays his 300th AFL game for North Melbourne against West Coast Eagles in Perth tomorrow.

Of the thousands to play in the VFL/AFL, only 63 have reached this milestone. As a 32-year-old, only eight have reached 300 quicker.

North Melbourne has three other players with 300 games to their name: Wayne Schimmelbusch 306 (1973-1987), Glenn Archer 311 (1992-2007) and Adam Simpson 306 (1995-2009).

Brent has done it all and his CV is impressive:

*four-time Syd Barker Medallist (North Melbourne best and fairest);

*four-time all-Australian;

*seven international rules games for Australia against Ireland in four series. Captain in 2008; and

*Big V representative twice, winning the E.J Whitten Medal for best on ground in 1999.

Despite all of these individual honours, he treasures playing in the 1999 premiership above everything else.

He was just a freckle-faced 21-year-old as the Kangaroos won their second flag in four seasons.

Chatting at training on Thursday, Brent recalled that one day in September.

''We lost the flag in '98 and won it in '99. I thought playing in finals series was the norm,'' he said.

He admits now how naive it was to have that thought.

North Melbourne has only been competitive in two final series in the past decade.

''I have a whole new respect for how hard it is to make and be competitive in finals,'' he said.

Competitive is what Brent Harvey is all about.

He has a great deal of pride in his performance and recollected some of his toughest opponents over his 15 seasons.

Shaun Hart from Brisbane was the first name to come to mind, having started crossing paths with him in the late 1990s.

He described Carlton's Anthony Franchina as a tight tagger who loved niggling.

All of a sudden, as though reliving a nightmare, Brent shuddered and spat out the name Tony Liberatore.

''He came to me at the `G' one day. The tag only lasted about six minutes because I ran off the ground to get away from him,'' Brent said.