Every A-League team has now played 2250 minutes (plus added time) this season. Phoenix skipper Andrew Durante is in a very select group of players who have played every single one of them. By my reckoning, Michael Thwaite, Sergio van Dijk and Alex Wilkinson are the only other outfield players who have played every minute of the season.
There are four major impediments to being ever-present; form, injury, discipline and substitution.
The captain perhaps gets a little more licence in the first of these than other players. If fit and available, you'd expect your captain to play, unless he undergoes a fairly catastrophic drop in form. For Durante, that's never been in question. In fact, he's been among the most impressive central defenders on show in the whole competition. Apart from perhaps Simon Colosimo, not too many Phoenix fans would swap Durante for any of the centre-backs in the other A-League sides.
Injury is uncontrollable and can strike any player at any time. As well as the games missed during rehabilitation, many players struggle to regain their place in the side upon their return to full fitness if the team has been playing well without them. Ricki Herbert has shown countless times that no player is an automatic choice in his side, with Ben Sigmund the latest example of this. From being one of the first players picked, his return from a three-game suspension has seen him stuck on the bench because Durante and Jon McKain are playing so well.
Which leads nicely to discipline - or more correctly indiscipline - as the third factor which can stymie a player's appearance numbers. Durante had three yellow cards by round ten and picked up his fourth in round seventeen, meaning he had to safely negotiate four more matches without indiscretion before the suspension bar was raised from five to eight yellows after 21 rounds. Not only did he do that, he's now not been booked for the past eight games - a pretty impressive feat for a defender.
Substitution is largely out of a player's control as coaches seek to change formations and tactics to either chase a game or shore it up. It's common for defenders to make way for attacking players when they find themselves behind, but Durante never has to look towards the touchline to see his number on the fourth official's board.
It has indeed been a stellar season for the Phoenix skipper. His calm defending and assured leadership have been crucial in the run to the playoffs.
The only thing lacking now is a goal. Durante has played 41 goal-less matches for Phoenix, which, when added to his 40 appearances for the Jets, have him behind only Ange Constanzo (currently with 88) in terms of total appearances without ever hitting the net. When the drought does finally break (and it will - Durante has been close from set-pieces a number of times), it will cue a celebration of mammoth proportions.
Maybe one goal will burst the dam as it has with Jon McKain - 29 goal-less games have been followed by two goals in the last four. It's practically raining goals for Phoenix's other centre-back. Just to complete this theme, Manny Muscat could eventually overtake them all - he's played 35 games and never even looked like scoring.
As the regular season boils to a climax and the playoffs come into sharp focus, experience and leadership will be key ingredients in a side with championship aspirations. In Andrew Durante, Phoenix have a captain who has tasted Grand Final success before, and seems quietly determined to drag his team as far as he can again.
