Western Bulldogs forward Tory Dickson will play his 50th AFL game on Sunday afternoon against Collingwood.

In his fourth year with the Bulldogs, the 27-year-old said he was pleased to reach his first major milestone.

“It’s a nice little achievement to get to 50 games… Looking back I was just happy to get that first game, after four years of playing VFL football I never thought I’d get the opportunity.”

Dickson has played every game in 2015, his most consistent since joining the Club in 2012.

“That’s probably the most pleasing thing, the consistency this year.

“I’ve had some interrupted mid-season breaks with injury so to play all the games this year is a positive and to have a good pre-season was probably the foundation of it all.”

Kicking 26 goals from 15 games, Dickson has fitted in neatly alongside Tom Boyd, Stewart Crameri, Jake Stringer and Jack Redpath throughout the season.

Most promising however is his defensive work around the ground, improving his aerobic capacity over the pre-season to cope with the new responsibility.

“The position I play I have to have a pretty big tank to get up and back throughout the whole field, so the pressure side is what keeps me in the game when things aren’t going my way in the forward line.

“The defensive game is what brings you into the game so to have a big tank and put plenty of pressure on (means) I can play my role most of the time.”