Phipps drew level with club legend Brad “Smoo” Williams last weekend for total games played for the Magpies, and he will hold the record outright come Saturday night.
It is a huge milestone, but with his record-breaking game just around the corner, Phipps said the occasion had not really crossed his mind.
“I forgot all about it to be honest, I’ve just been focusing on the footy,” Phipps said.
“It’s going to be good to get that milestone, but it’s just like any other game.
“When I finish up playing footy it will mean a lot, you’ve left a mark on the club and that will mean something special. The club means everything to me.”
Phipps will move ahead of club legend Williams who played more than 300 games across 24 years with Moama, with his first game in 1979.
Williams said he still remembers his first game for the Magpies, with a personal tragedy in the lead up leading him to form a special connection with the club.
“I do remember it actually, that’s why the footy became so important to me,” Williams said.
“It was pretty emotional, and I think that’s what gave me that attitude of when you see the ball you just go for it.
“You don’t give up, you go for it at all costs.
“A couple of weeks prior, I lost my father, Kevin, in a car accident.
“The night when the accident happened, I was meant to play footy at Moama the next day. Of course, it didn’t happen.
“We used to drive past the club and I thought ‘I’ll play footy here’ and because he had the accident and didn’t make it, that’s when I thought this is my place, and everyone here was just a massive family and that’s why I’ve stayed so strong about the footy club.”
Phipps’ favourite playing memory was winning the reserves flag in 2011, after losing the previous three grand finals before finally getting to lift the trophy.
“That was probably the highlight of my career, and those back-to-back premierships in 2015-16 were definitely a highlight as well,” he said.
Williams said his favourite moment at the club was in 1992 when Moama won the seniors and reserves flags.
“It was massive, we basically got the key to the town,” he said.
Williams recalled some of the best players he got to share the field with during his career.
“One of the classiest players I’ve seen was Craig Beck, he was a wizard. John Payne was a lovely bloke and a ripper player, Shaun ‘Hornet’ Power, Allan Corry, I could go on for hours,” he said.
Williams and Phipps crossed paths on the footy field, with Phipps saying he remembers a few games with Williams early on in his career.
“I was with the under-17s, so I spent a couple of years watching Smoo run around,” Phipps said.
“I remember playing the odd game together, we got a couple of wins that we probably shouldn’t have won.”
Their connection goes back further than that, with Williams also playing with Phipps’s father, Darren, in the 2003 premiership.
Looking towards the future, Phipps said he thought he had a few more seasons left under his belt.
“I’d say a few more seasons and see how the body goes, the body will dictate how long I play for, but so far so good.
“I wouldn’t say I’m chasing 400 games,” he joked.
Phipps has been racking up the milestones this season, celebrating his 300th game for the Magpies earlier this year.
There is still one more milestone he’s eyeing off though.
Phipps has 99 games in the seniors, needing just one more appearance to reach the ton.
Phipps said he was hoping to get there, adding an opportunity might come up later on in the season.
“I’ll hit them up later in the year towards the end when we have sewn up a finals spot, I’ll chat to that about them then,” he said.
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