AS one of the finest line-out exponents of his generation, Craig Gillies is no stranger to soaring high to secure possession for Warriors.

However, when the 6ft, 8ins second row stalwart leads his side onto the Sixways turf tomorrow, he will be hitting altogether different uncharted heights.

When the 34-year-old former Richmond and Scarlets lock takes on Esher he will be making his 223rd appearance for the club. That will see him overtake front row legend Tony Windo as the club’s most capped player of the modern era.

Gillies said: “I’m trying not to think about it too much because it makes me feel old! I guess it is a nice achievement to reach and quite a landmark.

“Reg (Windo) and I have not mentioned it to each other, but we have left it to Ben Mottram (Warriors media manager) to stir things up a bit.

“This is my ninth season at Worcester and it’s been a bit of a roller-coaster — lots of highs and a few lows along the way. It has been a journey.”

He added: “When I first arrived, I spent two years in the old first division and we went unbeaten in the second season, winning 26 out of 26, which was a good time as we achieved promotion to the Premiership.

“In our first term in the Premiership, we managed to buck the trend and stay up against all the odds with it going to a crunch final game of the season.

“That then happened several more times where we were backs against the wall in must-win games.

“A lot of those matches were highlights — the games against Northampton and Saracens stand out — and they are great memories.

“Obviously, last year’s relegation was a massive low for us as a club and on a personal level as well — it is a difficult emotion to get your head round.

“It took a while to sink in, but once you’ve accepted it’s not going to change, things move on and we have to deal with what’s in front of us and that’s what we’re trying to do at the moment.”

Gillies, who’s career reached the heights of England ‘A’ caps, has always felt comfortable at Sixways, but admits there has been plenty of interest from other clubs over the years.

He explained: “I’ve been through a couple of contract renewals and in those times it is always a little bit tense — it’s not a time I particularly enjoy as it takes me a bit of time to get into a club and feel comfortable in my surroundings.

“A couple of times there were offers on the table from other places, but it has always been my desire to stay here.

“I think I’m a fairly loyal person and once I get settled, I tend to perform better. My first choice has always been to stay.”

During his nine seasons at the club, Gillies has seen some fine players come and go, but the towering forward insists the current crop is up there with the best of them.

He said: “There has been a huge number of players come and gone over the years, but I think the team we have now is as strong as we’ve ever had.

“We’ve got a lot of talent —there’s guys who’ve been around for a while and know the ropes, we’ve got ex-international players and a very good crop of young players coming through.

“The academy does a very good job of feeding those guys through and we’ve had several break into the first team recently — that conveyor belt seems to keep producing them.”