Nirranda's James Willsher to play his 100th game for the Blues in clash with Merrivale

The 25-year-old joined the club as a teenager and played a key role in the side's 2016 and 2018 premierships.

"It's been awesome," Willsher said.

"I couldn't see myself playing anywhere else.

"It's actually gone pretty quick. I went to Nirranda when I was 18. There were a lot of us around that 18, 19, 20 years old and now there are a fair few of us around that 100-game mark and we're all now in our mid-twenties, so it's a good feeling."

Willsher's tenure at the club has come during a period of sustained success for the Blues.

Since its 2016 premiership it has won one premiership (2018) and appeared in at least a preliminary final in every completed season.

Willsher won the AFL Victoria Country Medal for the umpires' best-on-ground in the 2018 grand final win and was named in the Blues' best players during the 2016 victory.

Unsurprisingly, the Blues skipper listed the premierships as his biggest highlights with Nirranda so far

"That first one was pretty incredible when we only just snuck into finals and then just got on a roll and then 2018 was pretty good as well," he said.

This year Nirranda are primed for another tilt at the title.

The club have lost just one game for the season and are in outright first after 12 rounds.

Willsher is happy with where his side is positioned but wouldn't get ahead of himself when asked about the possibility of a third premiership.

"You don't want to call that too early but hopefully we can just keep getting some good form and get a good run going into finals," he said.

"It's good this year we've had a few new guys come in and it just gives us a bit of spark."

The Blues will be boosted for Saturday's clash with the Tigers by the inclusion of two players.

Reece Holwell, a highly-regarded midfielder from the Geelong and District league will debut for the Blues while key-tall Scott Lenehan will play his first match of the season.

"It'll be good to get some games in with them and gel with them," Willsher said.

"It should be a good match against Merrivale actually. It was a really good game last time so I'm looking forward to it."

Willsher has spent the season playing as a midfielder and half-forward and said his individual form hadn't been "too bad".

"It's just good to keep winning," he said.

"You don't get too caught up in that sort of stuff. I'm a pretty competitive person, I don't like losing too much."

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