But not in the case of Cam Rayner.

Pick #1 in the 2017 Draft, the rampaging Lions forward/midfielder is charging undaunted towards royalty status in an elite group of 40 which was founded with the inception of the draft in 1986.

A 2024-25 Lions premiership player after a 2023 grand final loss, Rayner already has played in as many AFL grand finals and won as many premierships as all but one #1 pick.

Only Hawthorn champion and one-time Brisbane teammate Luke Hodge, who boasts a 4-1 record in AFL grand finals, is ahead of him in the five-star categories on the #1 Pick Honour Roll.

And despite missing two finals through injury in 2021 and one through suspension in 2022 Rayner’s 17 finals is equal fifth among the 40 players to carry the #1 tag – equal with St.Kilda’s 336-game pick #1 Nick Riewoldt, one behind GWS’ Lachie Whitfield and St.Kilda’s Brendon Goddard, and two behind West Coast’s Drew Banfield,

The Hodge/Rayner connection is part of an uncanny coincidence that brought the pair together in 2018 when Rayner made his AFL debut in the same game in which Hodge, lured out of retirement to join Brisbane, wore Lions colors for the first time.

It was Round 1 2018 against StKilda at Marvel Stadium when Charlie Cameron, too, played his first game with the club as coach Chris Fagan began his second season at the helm.

Hodge, whose 346 career games is the most by a #1 pick, was 305 games and more than 15 years ahead of Rayner when they played together for the first time.

But on Saturday night, when the Lions will face the West Coast Eagles in Perth, Rayner will achieve a feat that eluded even the now 42-year-old dual Norm Smith Medalist and Hall of Famer.

Rayner will play his 100th consecutive game, having not missed a game since the 2022 qualifying final against Richmond he was suspended.

Indeed, but for a 12-month layoff with a knee reconstruction which cost him the entire 2021 season, he’s been remarkably resilient in his nine-year career. His only other time on injury list was a two-week stint with a hamstring in 2020.

Rayner’s 100th game in a row puts him well clear of Hodge’s longest streak of 54 games and makes him the seventh Brisbane player to play this mark.

But there will be no early celebration plans - he’s still three full seasons short of the club’s all-time record of 170 consecutive games, set by Marcus Ashcroft from Round 11 1992 through until Round 8 2000.

Ashcroft’s unbroken run was the fifth-longest in history when it was ended by a one-week thigh injury and is now 12th on an all-time list which is headed by ex-Lion now Collingwood defender Jack Crisp and includes current StKilda captain Callum Wilkie. It is:-

279 – Jack Crisp (Bris/Coll) *
244 – Jim Stynes (Melb)
226 – Adem Yze (Melb)
204 – Adam Goodes (Syd)
202 – Jack Titus (Rich)
200 – Brett Kirk (Syd)
194 – Jared Crouch (Syd)
191 – Jock McHale (Coll)
189 – Andy Collins (Haw)
174 – Kane Cornes (Port)
172 – Callum Wilkie (StK) *
170 – Marcus Ashcroft (Bris)

Charlie Cameron’s 145-game streak from 2019-25 is next best for Brisbane, ahead of Jack Redden’s 112 consecutive games from debut from 2009-14, Simon Black’s 107 from 2000-04 and Nigel Lappin’s 103 from 1998-2002.

Ashcroft’s 87-run streak from 2000-03 is Brisbane 8th on the list, ahead of Jaspa Fletcher’s ‘live’ streak of 85 games from debut in 2023, and Darryl White’s 79 games from 1997-2000.

Rayner’s assault on the #1 Pick Honour Roll isn’t restricted to finals activity.

With 189 career goals he’s also 6th on the goals list behind Nick Riewoldt (718), Adam Cooney (202), Brett Deledio and Marc Murphy (197) and Hodge (194), and is one of seven #1 picks to have averaged better than a goal per game.

Oddly, three of Brisbane’s four #1 picks are on this list.

John Hutton, pick #1 in 1991, averaged 2.19 goals per game in a 36-game career split between Brisbane (18 games), Sydney (5 games) and Fremantle (13 games) to head the list from Southport junior Nick Riewoldt at 2.14gpg.

And Des Headland, pick #1 in 1998 and a Lions premiership player in 2002 before moving to Fremantle, is 6th at 1.07gpg.

Brisbane’s other #1 pick was the first #1 pick in AFL history – Martin Leslie. He was the first #1 pick to play 100 games and, 40 years after he was drafted, he remains the oldest of 27 players taken at #1 to play 100 games.

The 187cm key defender had debuted with Port Adelaide in the SANFL in 1981 and, although drafted in 1986, waited until the 1989 season to join the AFL. By then he’d won the Port B&F in 1986 and, in his last game with the club, won a flag in 1988. He was also All-Australian in the same year and won the Bears B&F in 1990.