He has been the quickest debutant in club history to post a 30-possesion game and second-quickest to poll in the Brownlow Medal, but has been in and out of the side more times than anyone else and has had to endure the longest wait to get to triple-figures.

He’s missed 81 games through injury or non-selection while playing 99 games during his time at the club  – and only after he’s played 47 of the last 61 is he comfortably in front on the ledger. At Round 13 2021 his played-missed ratio was 52-67.

He even contemplated a change of clubs when approached by Collingwood at the end of 2022 despite being contracted for a further 12 months.

But his decision to stay loyal to the club and all the mixed emotions will be rewarded when he runs out for the 1pm game against Hawthorn at People First Stadium on Sunday to become the Suns’ 21^st 100-gamer.

Despite all the ups and downs, Fiorini, with 2055 possessions, 31 goals and 17 Brownlow Medal votes through 99 games, will join the 100-Club with a ball-winning record better than most.

His numbers don’t compare to  the incomparable Gary Ablett, who had an untouchable 3025 possessions, 120 goals and 112 votes in his first 100 Suns games. But otherwise only David Swallow (2082) and Touk Miller (2063) got to 100 games with more possessions than Fiorini’s 2055, so it’s not out of the question that he will be the club’s No.2 possession-winning 100-gamer in club history.

It’s all part of a journey that began in very bad fashion and then restarted in very good fashion – all in his first 12 months on the coast.

Hailing from Greensborough, 17km north-east of the Melbourne CBD,  Fiorini played with the Northern Knights in the then TAC Cup and represented Vic Metro at the Australian Under-18 Championships.

He was drafted by the Suns with pick #20 in the 2015 National Draft after Knights teammate Jade Gresham, now at Essendon, went to St.Kilda at #18.

In just his third NEAL game with the Suns he ruptured the lateral collateral ligament in his knee and was sidelined for three months, but after two NEAFL games back he was thrust into the seniors by coach Rodney Eade for the Round 22 clash with Collingwood at Marvel Stadium two days before his 20^th birthday.

Wearing jumper #29, Fiorini played only 69% game time for 17 possessions, one tackle and three clearances in a 71-point loss. On a possessions-per-minute basis only Miller and Aaron Hall rated higher. But that was only the entrée.

The following week, when the 15^th-placed Suns hosted 11^th-placed Port Adelaide in the last game of the year, Fiorini had 32 possessions, 12 tackles, five clearances and two goals - and still played only 72% game time.

It was Matt Shaw’s 100^th AFL game, and in a 23-point loss the second-gamer was team high for possessions, had twice as many tackles as any teammate and with Sam Day was the only multiple goal-kicker. And he was second only to Miller for clearances.

Four weeks later, at the Brownlow Medal count, Fiorini picked up one vote.

At the time he was the quickest Suns player to poll in the medal, surpassing Brandon Matera (4 games), Adam Saad (5), Zac Smith (6), Tom Nicholls (8), Aaron Hall (8) and Jaeger O’Meara.

Since then only one player has polled in the medal on debut – Izak Rankine polled one vote after he had 12 possessions and kicked three goals in his first game in a 17-point loss to Melbourne at Sydney Showgrounds in Round 6 of the 2020 Covid season.

Excluding imports, Fiorini was at the time and still is the quickest Suns player to record a 30-possession game. The second-gamer heads Jeremy Sharp (6 games) and Jaeger O’Meara (12).

Only three Suns players overall have been quicker to 30 possessions – Michael Rischitelli and Daniel Harris had 30-plus in the club’s first game in 2011 and Matt Rosa likewise in his first Suns game in 2016.

Fiorini, Sharp and O’Meara were three of 15 players who began their AFL career at the Suns and have had a 30-possession game with the club. The others, with the number of games to their first 30-possession haul, are Matt Rowell (18), Noah Anderson (19), Harley Bennell (20), Dion Prestia (23), Miller (29), Kade Kolodjashnij (32), Sam Flanders (38), Jack Martin (48), Aaron Hall (59), Jack Bowes (60), Swallow (61) and Darcy Macpherson (79).

Among the 30 players in the Suns “30-Plus Club”, Ablett is the senior member with 64 games of 30-plus, including 15 40-possession games and a club record 53. Miller (40) is a clear second, with Anderson (18) third from Fiorini, Prestia and Swallow (11).

So for a player who has been in and out of the Suns side 20 times in such a bumpy journey to 100 AFL games Fiorini has made his mark. He’s also 8^th for all-time possessions for the Suns, 15^th for contested possessions, 13^th for tackles, 9^th for clearances and 10^th for Brownlow votes.

He finished 5^th in the Suns’ best & fairest in 2019 behind Jarrod Witts, Swallow, Macpherson and Jarrod Harbrow, was a member of the Suns leadership group in 2019-20 and has claimed a significant first with the AFL – he’s the only ‘Fiorini’ among 13,126 players all-time.

Fiorini, who on 3 April celebrated with wife Molly-Rose the first birthday of son William Dale Fiorini, has also been something of a welcome and farewell officer at People First Stadium.
PLEASE CONFIRM THE BABY STUFF IS RIGHT – I FOUND IT ON HIS INSTAGRAM

Only four members of the current playing list joined the club before Fiorini, who is player #87 on the all-time player list, which reached 149 when Jake Rogers debuted last week. They are Alex Sexton (#51), Sean Lemmens (#63), Miller (#71) and Macpherson (#84).

He’s seen 62 players debut with the club, and 27 of them move on, including fellow 2015 draftees Josh Schoenfeld (pick #34 – 15 games) and Mackenzie Willis (pick #52 – 5 games).

At the time Fiorini was drafted then Suns recruiting manager Scott Clayton said of his pick #20: “We think he's untouched, he's going to be a really, really solid player. The back half of his year we thought was outstanding, and we already liked him at the championships. He's a ball magnet, and goes where you want him to go as an inside/outside midfielder."

Having been moved exclusively to the wing by new Suns coach Damien Hardwick, Fiorini will be the 31^th player from the AFL Class of 2015 to play 100 games.

Heading the games list from the year in which Jacob Weitering went #1 to Carlton is Sydney’s Tom Papley, who was rookie pick #14. He’s played 169 games. Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver (pick #4) has played 168 games, Richmond’s Daniel Rioli (pick #15) 166 games and Weitering 163 games.

Oddly, in a pointer to the fickle nature of player recruitment and the fact that the 2015 draft wasn’t as straight-forward as some, there were five players chosen ahead of Fiorini who have not reached 100 games.

They are Brisbane pick #2 Josh Schache (now at Melbourne after a stint with the Bulldogs), Essendon pick #6 Aaron Francis (now at Sydney), Melbourne pick #9 Sam Weideman (now at Essendon) and Adelaide pick #11 Wayne Milera and Adelaide pick #17 Tom Doedee (now at Brisbane).

Schache has played 76 games, Francis 69, Weideman 75, Milera 99 before a season-ending injury in Round 3,  and Doedee, who has recently undergone his third knee reconstruction without playing for the Lions, has played 71 games.

It was the same draft in which Sam Collins went at #55 to Fremantle, where he played 14 games in 2016-17 before joining the Suns in 2019, and the Suns picked up Macpherson with rookie pick #21 and now retired 64-gamer Jesse Joyce at rookie pick #67.

Also, five 100-gamers from the 2015 draft were originally taken as rookies – Papley, Essendon rookie pick #22 Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (133 games), GWS rookie pick #26 Daniel Lloyd (101), Port rookie pick #45 Dan Houston (152 games) and Adelaide rookie pick #48 turned Gold Coast and now North Melbourne utility Hugh Greenwood (120).