Andrew Hubbard, who last Saturday laced up his boots for his 390^th game for the Forbes Platypi, just can't imagine it any other way.

After 24 years with the club, you could just about call him part of the furniture.

"It's just what I do," he says.

Hubbard started with the Forbes Rugby Club 17s and has never looked back.

In his junior days he started as fullback, but he moved into the senior grades in the days of stand-out David Hodder so he quickly found he could move around.

Playing on the wing, as breakaway and in the forwards, Hubbard has run on with our thirds, wolf pack and first grade, sometimes backing up for a couple of games a day.

He's had a few injuries but the longest he's been sidelined is seven games when he dislocated a shoulder mid-season.

Now that 400-game milestone seems tantalisingly close, but it could just as easily not have happened had this season been cancelled due to COVID-19.

"Longevity is all about consistency I think," Hubbard reflects.

"I've probably talked about retirement for 10 years but I haven't missed a season.

"(If this season hadn't gone ahead) I probably wouldn't have done much at all, it probably would have seen me out."

But beyond Hubbard's role as a player, he's also served on the club's committee including as its president. Rugby is far more than the game, it's a family and a community.

"It's more the people I think," he says.

"It's about helping people, developing people, we see people grow within themselves, learn and better themselves."

Since Hubbard signed up with the blues in 1997, the club has suffered the tragedy of lives lost in the Bali bombings and risen to the thrill of premiership victory over city sides.

Through many other highs and lows on and off the field he has experienced how the club members "stick together and help each other".

"I'm pretty fortunate to be a part of the club," Hubbard says.

The veteran has seen some key changes in his years with the club, one of those bringing in international players. First from the UK, now more from Tonga and Fiji.

It's not just skills they bring, he emphasises, it's their cultural values too.

"They bring something extra to the club," he says.

The women's side that launched last year was also absolutely pivotal for the club.

"That's probably the best thing - as a club - that has happened to us, it's up there with some of the great events," Hubbard said.

"It has changed the whole dynamic."

It's been a privilege to be involved in charity days that raise thousands for community organisations and the ever-growing premium event the President's lunch, Hubbard said.

And again, it's all about the people who make it all happen.

It's a bit risky to start naming names for fear of missing someone, but Hubbard pays tribute to club stalwarts including Phil Prior and Graeme Uphill, to Kim Muffet who drove the President's Lunch, Brendan Hayes, to Tracey and Daph Prior, Alison Uphill and so many more.

Peter Cripps, Alex McKinnon, Barb McKinnon, Tony O'Connell, Chris Sweeney and Murray Fraser.

"I have made great friends along the way, and from a wide circle of people," Hubbard said.

"There are so many more."

Looking to the Platypi's immediate future, they have to win with a bonus point against Orange City this Saturday to keep their hopes of a berth in the finals alive and that's no small challenge.

The Platypi first grade side achieved their first win of this shortened season against Bathurst Bulldogs last Saturday, and Hubbard wasn't the only one who was pleased and relieved.

"This is a short season but it was a long time coming," he said. "We just couldn't get over the line."

Last Saturday, the veteran player said, change was in the air.

Their consistency was there, and the players' talk remained positive even when things went wrong.

Hubbard described the atmosphere at Forbes Rugby Club as "almost grand final-like" when the Bulldogs missed a kick in the final stages of the game.

But he acknowledges "we'll need all that and more" this Saturday against Orange City.

The Lions want it just as much, they're hoping to end a four-year run finishing outside the finals, so Hubbard reckons the right mentality and a bit of momentum will be key for Forbes.