Ahead of his 200^th game this week, Lachie Henderson could be forgiven for thinking he’s done it the hard way. But without his winding journey to the milestone, he might not have become the player he is today.

Henderson grew up near the town of Birregurra, located about 45 minutes south-west of Geelong, and by his teenage years was establishing himself as a serious football talent. When not representing his school Geelong Grammar, Henderson was part of a talented Geelong Falcons team that saw in his draft year no less than seven of his teammates drafted via the national or rookie draft. Henderson was the first picked at eight by the Brisbane Lions but would soon be followed by future teammate Patrick Dangerfield at 10 to Adelaide.

For Henderson, the move to Leigh Matthews' Lions was at a time when the northern club was in purgatory. Having achieved the mythical three-peat of Premierships in 2001, 2002 and 2003, the Lions had returned to the grand final in 2004 only to fall to Port Adelaide.

From 2005 to 2007 the Lions missed finals each season and despite still holding revered names as Simon Black, Nigel Lappin and Jonathan Brown, the draft would be important for the Lions to begin their rebuild with a pick as prized as number 8.

His first NAB Cup game the next season saw Henderson kick three goals on former Lion premiership star turned Bomber Mal Michael, exciting the Lions faithful that the young tall was someone they could build a side around.

2008 saw the Lions stay put in 10^th spot on the ladder, but 2009 saw a climb up the ladder and back into finals under the new senior coach, club legend Michael Voss. Henderson, however, managed only seven games for the season and at the end of the year was traded to Carlton along with a swap of picks for the brilliant yet troubled Brendan Fevola.

Henderson was now a Blue. And joining Henderson at Carlton at that time was now teammate and close friend, Zach Tuohy.

For Tuohy, fresh off the plane from Ireland, it didn’t take long for him to know who Henderson was.

“He had a bit of a profile, and he was always super professional,” Tuohy recalls.

“He sort of changed his outlook over the years, about how he approaches the game, but he was very studious early on.

“It was all footy. Everything was footy. Life sort of revolved around it.”

Henderson life at his second club started well under Brett Ratten.

Firstly tried up forward, he would boot 25 goals from 19 games and feature in the Blues finals appearance.

2011 however saw Henderson struggle to nail a spot in the forward line until a mid-season move to the backline gave him a fresh lease on life.

Injuries maimed his 2012 season and Henderson would also finish the year with a new coach in Mick Malthouse.

Malthouse’s tutelage would help Henderson to his best season yet in 2013 as a swingman and see him finish third in the Blues’ best and fairest.

In 2014, it was back to the forward line and a career best goals tally of 28.

By 2015, the Blues were in dire straits on-field and Henderson began reviewing where he’s best football in the future lay. As the Blues fell to last place on the ladder, Henderson decided a move closer to his home was needed.

And it so happened that as the Cats did the deal to bring Henderson back home, they also brought his former Geelong Falcons teammate in Dangerfield.

Henderson’s first year for the Cats saw a player rejuvenated and happy.

Unfortunately for him, knee surgery following round 22 saw him miss the Cats first final but he recovered in time for the Cats preliminary final against the Swans. After nine wins in his previous two seasons as a Blue, he’d sing the song 13 times for the Cats in his first season.

Following his first year at the Cats, Henderson would see another familiar face beside him in the locker-room with Geelong trading in Tuohy in October.

For Tuohy, the decision to come to the Cats was an easy one after a few coffees with his mate.   

“Hendo and I were very close at that stage, and I’d seen the effect Geelong had had on him.” Tuohy recalled.

“It was very appealing.

“Hendo’s got a reasonable emotional IQ with his friends, and I think he could sense where I was at and obviously knew Geelong was perfect for me.”

Tuohy was able to see just how comfortable Henderson was the next season in 2017 when he played all but three games for the Cats on the way to a long finals run.

But knee injuries would cruel Henderson’s next two seasons and by the time the Cats would finalise their list at the end of the 2019 season there wouldn’t be a spot for Henderson on it.

Fate wasn’t going to let Henderson’s career finish there though and after 54 games with the Cats, he was thrown a lifeline. A rookie spot had become available at Geelong with the departure of Ryan Abbott to the Saints and a month after his delisting he was selected by the Cats in the Rookie Draft.   

Whilst some players would feel the events as a shot to the ego, Henderson did everything he could to keep improving and even when a spot in the AFL side wasn’t opening up at the start of 2020, he didn’t give in.

“When he wasn’t playing, it was just pretty obvious we had the best key defender back-up in the league.” Tuohy said.

“It was mad really that he wasn’t playing but it was just the way the team make up was at the time.

“I talked about how professional he is, and it never wavered at any point.

“A lot of players would have fallen off the cliff or retired or it just would have gotten too hard for them at that point, but it just never did for him.

It could be easily said that the 28 games since Henderson’s delisting have been his best at AFL level. His rise to one of the elite AFL defenders has allowed the Cats to evolve their game, especially around the use of Mark Blicavs.

Now with game 200 here, the person said to have had his life revolve around footy early on has found a peace in it that could only have been achieved through a career of change and learning.